Matthew 26:28 – Jesus’ Last Will – Bible study

Matthew 26:28 Jesus Last Will and Testament The word in our text is TESTAMENT. When we use it, we normally think of a portion of the Bible. We have the Old and New TESTAMENTS, but the word means more. Even when we use it, we are referring to the old and new covenants (contracts or agreements) with God. The Old Covenant (promise) was with Israel and the New Covenant (promise) is with those who would trust in Jesus. A Greek to English Dictionary defines the word TESTAMENT as – "a disposition, an arrangement of any sort which one wishes to be valid, the last disposition which one makes of his earthly possessions after his death, a testament or will" Part of the meaning of the word "testament" is that it is a will, as in a last will and testament. Here, Jesus is giving the blood that provides His Last Will and Testament. To my knowledge, I have never been the beneficiary of a written will, but I would think that, after an appropriate time of mourning for the loved one, you would need to find out what duties, obligations, responsibilities, and gifts were charged to you in the will. In other words, you would need to find out what was left you in the will. Tonight, lets find out what Jesus left to us in His Last Will and Testament. I. Jesus left you unmerited salvation: Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. A. This is the heart of what the New Covenant is all about. 1. God has given to you salvation of the soul from sins. 2. This salvation is unmerited; that is, unearned. B. You should consider salvation your treasure chest, filled to the brim and running over with all of the good things God has for you. 1. Some things, if you know what to look for, you can see right off: a. You get forgiveness of sins in this chest of treasure. b. You get a home in heaven. c. You get fellowship with God. d. You get the indwelling of the Spirit of God. 2. Other things will come as a surprise as you stir around in your treasure chest. C. However, everything that you find or will receive was actually given to you IN (with, at your accepting of) Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: D. The goal of the remainder of your life (maybe the remainder of your existence) is to locate and make proper use of those treasures. II. Jesus left you unsearchable riches: 2 Corinthians 8:9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. Ephesians 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; A. God, through Paul, is describing those treasures that we have in Christ. B. He calls them "unsearchable riches." 1. The idea of unsearchable riches – a. Riches means that what we do find will add tremendously to our wealth and existence. (1) These riches typically come as nuggets you will find along the pathway of your Christian growth. (2) You have already gotten the big box full of treasure. (3) Now as you go through it, you will find just how precious the many gifts in it areone small jewel at a time. (4) The remainder of your life is going to be like a perpetual Christmas morning. b. Most of these will be spiritual nuggets but they will add to both your physical and spiritual life. (1) It is amazing how much practical power comes in a spiritual nugget. (2) Church attendance, tithing, praying, Bible study – each and every nugget will add a wealth of joy and fullness to your everyday life. (3) We can only guess at what it will add to our eternal spiritual life. 2. Unsearchable means that no matter how long we look, we will not find them all. a. This is an inexhaustible supply. b. Gifts are given based on the ability of the giver. c. The Giver of these riches has limitedless abilities so His gifts will likewise be limitedless. C. This treasure and the joy of exploring it are given to us because of the death of Jesus Christ. III. Jesus left you an unshakeable testimony. Revelation 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. A. The word TESTIMONY is very unique and personal. 1. A testimony is a record of things an individual sees, says, or experiences. a. A person must give his own testimony. b. I cannot give you Kathys testimony. She cannot give you mine. 2. In this verse, John IS NOT talking about the things he heard Jesus say or that he saw Jesus do. a. That would be Johns testimony. b. That is what the Gospel of John and to some smaller extent, the Epistles of John, do. c. John is saying that this book is the record of JESUS testimony. 3. The testimony referred to in this verse is the record of the things which Jesus has done or said (at least as much as He has revealed.) 4. The entire Bible is that testimony. Isaiah 40:8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. a. It all records what Jesus (and the Godhead) have done and said. b. That is how the Bible reveals to us the things that happened when no man was there (i.e. creation). B. What we have, is an unshakable testimony, an unshakable record, of the actions and words of God Almighty, given from the mouth of God and recorded in the pages of the Bible. 2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 1. The word INSPIRED means BREATHED. 2. It means God spoke these things with His own breathe and man recorded them. 3. You can take the Old Testament expression, "Thus saith the word of the Lord" seriously. 4. So we can trust it. IV. Jesus left you unspeakable joy. 1Peter 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. A. Christians should know that Jesus has left us a most unusual joy. 1. It is described in this verse as unspeakable; that is, words cannot accurately summarize it. 2. It cannot be described with words because it is mixed with glory (i.e. "full of glory.") B. Because of the unusual character of this joy, it works as well in the bad times as it does in the good times. Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. 1 Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice evermore. Colossians 1:24 Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his bodys sake, which is the church: C. No one else has this kind of joy. V. Jesus left you unlimited power. Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. A. Jesus had all power. 1. That would not be just an idle claim. 2. He demonstrated it with every miracle that He performed. B. Just as Jesus received the power that He used while on earth from the Father and the Holy Ghost, so we have received the power of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to do the things that God desires us to do. 1. For example, to be a witness. \#Acts 1:8\ We do not go alone or in our power. We go in the power of Jesus. 2. To preach 3. To pastor 4. To build this new church building – I checked online yesterday to a church that Kathy and I attended in 1981 to 1982 and taught in until 1984. (Glendale Baptist Church, Bowling Green, KY) They were in need of a building when we were there. We visited once, maybe 10 to 12 years ago and they were talking about building a new building. It is built and they are in it now! 5. To reach the world for Jesus. I am still greatly distributed that approximately 1/2 of the world does not have a witness of any kind in their language, in their culture, or within the nation boundaries. C. Gods power is available to you to do whatever God leads you to do. 1. Start a Sunday School class 2. Operate a bus route for Jesus 3. Operate an outreach to the poor, the addicts, the homeless 4. Be a missionary, preacher, or pastor VI. Jesus left you undisturbed peace. John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. A. The two marks of a spiritual person are power and peace. 1. Power manifests itself on the outside. 2. Peace manifests itself on the inside. B. It is been speculated that one of the reasons God does not reveal more of the future to us is because we could not handle it. 1. What would you have done last Monday if you had known what was going to happen the remainder of the week? 2. Maybe nothing unusually significant happened last week but if you knew far enough ahead, something would be out there and you would probably stay in bed. 3. Yet, Jesus not only knew what was going to happen to Him, He taught about it to others! Matthew 20:17 And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, 18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, 19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again. a. Jesus knew of His pending imprisonment. b. Jesus knew of the cruel beatings. c. He even knew about His death and resurrection. 4. Yet, He had peace. C. The peace that Jesus had, the peace that the Father had given to Him, He left with us. 1. It has recently dawned on me that I need to learn this peace. 2. I dont say that I need to learn more ABOUT this peace. I need to learn this peace. 3. I want to be able to be an example of it to others. VII. Jesus left you His unfailing presence. Mt 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen. A. We not only have the things of Jesus (His peace, His power, His joy, His testimony), but we have Jesus. B. A Christian cant go anywhere without Jesus. 1. Because God is everywhere. 2. Because God is inside of us. C. The key to having a strong outward walk with the Lord is having a strong inward walk with the Lord. 1. We all need to practice being alone with God. 2. Talking to Him, listening to Him, meditating on Him. D. Christians need to learn to be alone with God. 1. I recall visiting Mrs. Jessica Morris one day. It was after Jack had passed away. As I recall, she was having problems with her hib or something and couldnt get out much at the time. I asked her how she was and if she was getting lonely. Her answer was that she was fine and no she wasnt lonely. She had learned in her youth to be alone with God. She said she could read her Bible, pray, and just enjoy Gods presence. 2. We might find out that being alone with God is the source power with God. VIII. Jesus left you His unalterable promise. John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. A. This life is sweet, and I am extremely thankful for every moment of it. B. However, we must understand that life is a temporary journey which, at the most, affords temporary happiness. 1. Life is one trip that the longer you are on it, the less pleasant it will become. 2. Sometimes people say that they dont like getting old but they like the alternative even less. 3. The promise of Jesus makes the alternative pretty appealing. C. What we need to do is start looking at this promise and letting it feel our soul with the treasure Jesus intended it to have. These our a few of our gifts, the treasures will to us by our Lord. Let us acquaint ourselves with them and we will see that our Lord has left us with treasures indeed.