Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. We thank you for this message that we can proclaim. that Jesus saves. This message that Jesus saves, it reverberates around the whole world. A message not just for the Jewish nation.
A message not just for Americans, a message for every single person. Jesus is the hope. of the nations. Welcome to the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. When Jesus began his ministry, there were many who hoped that he would lead a political revolution.
or become a powerful ruler. But today on the verdict, we'll see how our Lord Jesus came not as a mighty conqueror, but as a suffering servant. and why this makes him the hope of the nations.
Now, continuing our study in Matthew, here's Pastor John Monroe to introduce his message. One of the reasons I love studying the book of Matthew is that it's all about Jesus.
So often in our study of scripture, we focus on ourselves, our tough circumstances, our plans, and our wishes. But we're learning that as we learn more about Jesus, love Him more, follow Him more closely, we see our circumstances in a different light. Every aspect of life falls under the lordship of our Lord Jesus. He is King. Contrary to the expectation of the religious leaders and even the disciples at the time of Jesus, Jesus comes not as a conqueror, but as a suffering servant.
Let's look again at Matthew chapter 12. As we understand that as the true Messiah, Jesus is also the hope for the nations. When God's Son comes to earth, he comes as God's chosen servant. who always pleases his father, but he comes as a suffering servant. You see, we have to understand as we follow him.
We're following one who suffered. And don't be surprised, therefore, in your life. when there is suffering. But know this. Isaiah is saying, and Matthew is quoting.
That when the Messiah comes, yes, in his suffering. Yes, as he's rejected by the religious establishment who conspire to kill him, he comes. with gentleness He comes with Humility. We learned at the end of Matthew chapter 11 that Jesus describes himself as one who is lowly. and gentle in heart.
The Pharisees are plotting to kill him. Jesus is God. He's all-powerful. What does he do? Have a confrontation with them?
No, he withdraws from their hostility. In the context of Isaiah 42, Isaiah refers to the pagan conqueror Cyrus. who tramples on rulers as on mortar, as the potter treads clay. Yes, that pagan ruler stamps on people. He hurts people.
But our Saviour comes with gentleness. And verse 16. He orders them not to make him known. We call that the messianic secret. Jesus doesn't want people to follow him for the wrong reasons.
He's not a publicity seeker. Can you imagine if the f the so-called faith healer today? or the Christian celebrity today who does something fantastic. Seemingly does a little miracle, does something really cute and cool, and saying, Well, don't tell people about that. No, it would immediately be put on social media, wouldn't it, with a strong financial pitch?
Jesus doesn't come like that. He comes with He doesn't want to be known as a kind of spiritual magician. He doesn't want people following him for the wrong reasons. He doesn't want them coming to him for the loaves and the fishes. No, he comes.
as a suffering Servant. But those with eyes to see, Those who have spiritual ears will see and hear the glory of God in Jesus Christ. Those who don't repent like the Pharisees continue. to be blinded. No, he doesn't come as a military ruler.
Notice verse 19: He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He's not a protester. You don't see Jesus out there protesting. He's not confrontational in the face of opposition. No, no one is stronger than our Lord.
But he withdraws with. Gentleness. He's gentle. He's patient. He doesn't get involved in fruitless arguments or quarrels.
No, he treats the marginalized. that I'm trodden. the broken, the stumbling with love and Grace. By the way, there's a lesson there for us. Why is it?
that even followers of Jesus get drawn in. to the hostile and crude rhetoric of social media. As followers of Jesus, we're to be known as gentle, we're to be known as gracious. Not harsh. Not fighting.
Not returning evil with evil. You say, well, I've got strong convictions. No one had stronger convictions than the Lord Jesus. There's a time to speak, but there's a time to be. Silent.
And Jesus does not quarrel. or cry aloud. Notice verse twenty. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not. Quench.
A read in those days, we have a picture of one, a reader those days could be turned into a kind of flute. A little boy could cut the reed and put a few holes in it and make it as a flute. But once the reed is bruised, Once there's a band in it, there's no use. You can't play the thing, and so it's thrown away. Here it is, says Jesus.
It says the prophecy: A smouldering wick he will not quench. They used all lamps. They had that wick. But there comes a time When the wick isn't working very well and it brings out smoke and black soot and it's not any use, and you throw it away. What can you do with a used wick?
Nothing other than throwing it away. But when the Messiah comes. He doesn't break. The bruise read. He doesn't quench the smoldering.
Work. You see what does that mean? It means this. But when Jesus comes He doesn't break the bruised. He doesn't quench the smoldering.
Those who are poor, those who are broken. Those who are bruised by this world and bruised by sin. The wonderful Messiah, the Lord from heaven, he doesn't reject such people. That's what the legalistic scribes and Pharisees do. When you don't live up to their expectations, they throw you out.
They want nothing to do with you. But when the Messiah comes, he doesn't break people. He comes to heal the broken. He comes to bring grace and love and forgiveness. to the bruised.
You say, our Saviour comes. to worship. He comes in seeming weakness. And he comes to suffer. Turn over to Matthew chapter 16.
We'll see this. Matthew 16 verse 21. From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed. And on the third day he raised. He's going to Suffer.
Chapter 27. Matthew 27. Verse twenty seven. Then the soldiers of the governors took Jesus into the governor's headquarters and they gathered the whole battalion before him and they. stripped him.
If you would have been stripped, Imagine how humiliating that is. They strip the Saviour. And they put a scarlet robe on him. They're mocking him, aren't they? And twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head.
head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews, this is God incarnate, the Almighty God. And they spit on him. and took the reed and Struck him on the head. You ever had anyone spit at you?
And when they had mocked him, They stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him. and led him away to crucify him. That's our Saviour. He comes. as the suffering.
Savior. John chapter 18. Turn there with me. Glad you brought your Bible with you today, John 18. He's before Pilate.
We're establishing. that the Lord Jesus Christ comes to suffer. This is his mission to suffer for sins. to suffer so that you and me can have this hope of the gospel. and have our sins forgiven.
John 18, verse 36. Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. Please remember this in the present state of our country. Our kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.
But my kingdom is not from this world. And then in First Peter. 1 Peter chapter 2, I read from 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter chapter 2. Towards the end of the New Testament.
The Apostle Peter, one of the disciples of Jesus, is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And he says in 1 Peter 2, verse 21: For to this you have been called. Because Christ also suffered for you. Leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin.
Neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. He's not a shouter. You ever been reviled? I don't know about you, but when Someone says Things about me.
I want to retaliate. Not our Saviour. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten. but continued in trusting himself to him who judges Justly He himself Bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds.
You have been healed. How beautiful that our Savior comes. to suffer. You're bruised? You're broken, you've made a really mess of your life, have you?
Come to Jesus. That's why he comes. He comes to take our guilt. Or shame. Our suffering, and he takes it on himself.
Bruised and broken. Jesus will not reject you. People might reject you, but Jesus will not reject you. He comes for this reason. He comes.
As the hope of the nations. He doesn't break the bruised reed. He doesn't quench the smoldering. Wait. He invites us to come to Him for salvation, for forgiveness.
Rest and hope. He's God's chosen servant. He's the suffering servant. And he is victorious. Why?
Because he not only suffers for our sins, not only is he crucified and buried, he rises from the dead. This is why we began by reading about the living hope that we have. And in Jesus Christ, then, because of who he is and his magnificent work, he is our hope and he is the hope for the nations. Look at the end of verse 18. He will proclaim justice.
to the nations That word nations, Greek word ethnos, from which we get ethnicity, it could be translated as it is in some translations as the nations. There is Israel and there are the nations, the Gentiles. And when he comes, he brings hope, he brings justice not only to Israel, but to the nations. And in Isaiah forty-two verse four, The Tarum Is translated as coastlands, referring to lands. Far from Israel itself.
And what does he do? He's going to proclaim justice. The end of verse 20, until he brings justice to victory. A lot of talk today about justice, isn't there?
Social justice. Economic justice. legal justice. And we all long for that. We all want justice, don't we?
But what is this justice? What does this mean in verses 18 and 20? What is this justice? It's very interesting that the word in Hebrew used in Isaiah 42, verse 4, translated justice, it says there, till he's established justice in the earth. That same word in Hebrew is used in Exodus 26, verse 30, for the blueprint God gave for the tabernacle to be built.
So what is justice? What is this justice that Jesus brings to the earth? is God's Blueprint. God's blueprint for us. God's blueprint for you as an individual, God's blueprint for us as a society, God's blueprint for the world.
Isaiah forty-two, verse four: the coastlands wait for the law. Habakkuk won. Verse 4: So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth, for the wicked surround the righteous, so justice goes forth perverted. When God is forgotten, When we do things our own way, as we're tending to do, In our own lives, in our own homes, in our own society, when we do things our own way, there is a perversion of justice. What is just this?
When the rule of law is observed, the rule of God is observed. And now in Jesus Christ The kingdom of God is coming. Remember John the Baptist, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And now in Jesus, the kingdom of God has come. He is the king.
He's God's chosen servant. He's the suffering servant. And he brings God's plan to us. In Jesus Christ. There is justice.
In Jesus Christ, when we follow the Lord Jesus Christ, then. There will be justice in the world, and this better world that we all long for. It will not come through our own efforts, although we certainly should work to improve our world. But when will there be real justice for this world when our Lord Jesus Christ returns? Returns with power and great glory.
And the Lord Jesus Christ, as King Jesus, when He returns the second time, He will institute perfect justice and perfect righteousness. Habakkuk says the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Can you imagine that in the Messianic kingdom? When Jesus Christ returns on this earth. Perfect.
Justice. Until he brings justice to victory, and in his name, verse 21, the Gentiles will hope. Yes, Jesus is a hope. of the nations. Our Lord Jesus said, salvation.
It's from the Jews. The blessings we receive as Gentiles, as non-Jews, flow from our Messiah who is Jewish. Never forget that Jesus was Jewish. He is the Jewish Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why, incidentally, followers of Jesus must never be anti-Semitic.
Genesis 12: Those who bless Israel will be blessed, those who dishonor Israel will be cursed. And no, the church has not replaced Israel. We don't subscribe to replacement theology. We believe there is a future for Israel as a nation. Jesus is the hope for Israel and praise God.
In the benevolence of God and in the grace of God, He's also the hope, not just for Israel, He's the hope for the nations, and He's hope for people like you and me. Hear it again, 1 Peter 1:3. According to his great mercy, you don't deserve this, do you? Of course you don't. According to his great mercy, he's caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
And no one is excluded from this hope. It comes not just to Israel, but to all of the nations. And so, the end of Matthew, our Lord Jesus Christ commands his disciples to go and make disciples of all of the nations. Why? Our hope is only Jesus, He's the only hope.
And every nation and every person needs to hear this message, this message of Jesus. that he's God's chosen servant. That he's a suffering servant who comes to atone for the sins of his people. That he's the hope of the nations. And my question to you is, do you know this Jesus?
No, he's not a political agitator. He's not a protester. He doesn't want people to follow him just for what they can get from him. He wants us to love him. He comes as our Saviour.
He comes on as Lord of all, and he calls on you and me voluntarily. to bow the knee to him. One day when he returns, Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess. But now in grace, he wants you voluntarily. To turn from your sin.
and to embrace him. And say, Lord, save me. I want to follow you for the rest of my life. He's our only hope.
Some of you are here today and your life is a ripe mess, isn't it? You've embraced the darkness. You've tasted of the darkness. Your life is a mess, and you don't have hope. I want to present Jesus Christ to you.
as the only hope. Will you trust them? Will you believe in him? Will you cry out to him? to save you.
And to look forward to that day, that wonderful day, when the Lord Jesus Christ will return as King of kings and Lord of Lords. He'll execute justice, righteousness, and holiness throughout the whole world. Yes, he's coming back. And the nation's hope in him. Make sure your hope.
Is in God's wonderful son, the hope. of the nations. This message that Jesus saves, it reverberates around the whole world. A message not just for the Jewish nation. A message not just for Americans, a message for every single person that this message that Jesus saves.
that Jesus is Lord. reverberates around the world and one great day and we are We sang on that with that wonderful song, He is Worthy, One Great Day. With all those he has ransomed from his blood. we will come together from every tribe And language and people and nation. And praise God.
In His grace I'll be there. to sing wordy is the lamb. Worship him. Love him. Serve him with all of your heart.
Here's your only hope. Help us to do that, our Father and our God.
So easy for us to put our hope and our trust in ourselves and other people. And other things, may each person here know Christ. as their only hope. And we thank you for this message that we can proclaim. that Jesus saves.
That there is salvation and no one else. That Jesus is our only hope in all of our life and in death and for all of eternity. And we pray, I pray, that every single person here. We'll join that redeemed. That great crowd.
in the future. Everyone ransomed by the blood of Jesus. Singing Worthy. Is the Lamb. Help us now, Father, to respond with humility, with love, with praise, with service.
In Christ's name, Amen. This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God.
To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at the verdict. org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry.
Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam. It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website. Again, that's theverdict.org. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte.
We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road. If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ, We invite you to join us for our Sunday services. For more details about Calvary and our service times, visit theverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? Is Jesus Christ King of your life? Is he your hope? It's easy to put our hope in ourselves, in our dreams and plans, rather than in the Lord Jesus, who is Lord over all. The wonder of the gospel is that there is hope for each one of us, not only for Israel, but for you.
And me.
So make sure your trust is in Jesus the Savior, the hope. of all the nations. Don't forget to tune in next time as we think of a controversial subject, the unforgivable sin. Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies.
Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
