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What Will You Do With Jesus? – Bible study

What Will You Do With Jesus? – Bible study

What will you do with Jesus?

Matthew 27:11-26

by Cooper Abrams

    Introduction: Jesus was brought before Pilate the Roman Governorof Judea. Earlier the Jesus had been illegally tried before Annasthe ex-high priest, and then his son-in-law Caiaphas, the acting high priest, and then before the Sanhedrin. All of this was done inthe dead of night and secretly. They falsely accused Him andcondemned Jesus to death, but they did not have the power to carry outthe sentence (John 18:31).

      As a conquered people, they were under Roman rule and thoughthe Romans allowed them to rule themselves in some civil matters, theywere not allowed to carry out capitol punishment.

      Thus the chief priests and the members of the Sanhedrin broughtJesus before the Roman governor Pilate and demanded that He be put to death (Matt. 27:1).

      These religious leaders of Israel brought false accusations againstChrist, but Jesus at first remained silent before His accusers. ;Pilate was amazed that Jesus did not defend Himself. The governorhad great contempt for the Jewish leaders, and they having broughtno real charge against Him, sought to release Jesus. It was a custom that at the feast of the Passover, the Romans would releasea Jewish prisoner as a sign of good will. Pilate gave them a choiceto release Barabbas, a convicted murder who was to be executed or Jesus. He thought they would choose Jesus rather than the harden criminal andmurder Barabbas. However, the chief priest the urgedthe people to cry of the release of Barabbas.

      Then Pilate asked the key question that all men must answer. He addressed the people and ask them, “What shall I do then withJesus, which is called Christ?”

      The people said, (V22) “Let him be crucified.” Pilate being frustrated asked again, “What evil hath the done?” The mob gave no answer but cried out more, “Let Him be crucified” (V23).

      Pilate seeing he could not change their minds, frustratedand with a show of contempt for the Jews, took water and washedhis hands before them saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this justperson: see ye too it.”

      Then the mob responded to his actions and said, “Hisblood be one us, and on our children.” And may Iadd….”And it was so!” God granted their request.

    I. At Some Time Everyone Will Have Something to Do with JesusChrist the Son of God.

      A. Everyone on earth will have to answerthat question that Pilate ask the blood thirsty Jewish mob. “Whatshall I do with Jesus, who is called Christ.”

        1. In Romans 14:11, “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.”

        2. Phil 2:10-12,says, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given hima name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesusevery knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and thingsunder the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christis Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

    ILLUS: My wife was attemptingto witness to man. He told her he did not believe in all thisstuff about God. He said he did not know if their wasa heaven or hell.

      B. Believe it or not, the fact remains….thereis a heaven and as sure as heaven there is also a hell.

      C. Rev. 20:11-15, tells us thatat the end of the Millennium, Jesus Christ who is the Righteous and JustGod, will judge all the lost in what is called the Great White Throne Judgment.

        1. All men smalland great who died in their sins will stand before God and be judged. Here kings and great men of wealth along side the drunk in the gutter standtogether to face the Savior they regretted.

        2. This is nota judgment to determine if their works were good enough to get them toheaven, but sadly it is a judgment of condemnation and eternal punishmentfor their sins, the works of their lives.

        3. All that areassembled on this dread day will be cast by the angels into the eternalLake of Fire to be tormented forever.

      D. Each person on that day will know andconfess that YES, JESUS IS THE CHRIST, OUR GOD, CREATOR AND SAVIOR!

        1. Today mostmen and women in the world reject Jesus Christ. They rejectHim and thus make nothing of His great sacrifice for them on that old ruggedCross.

        2. They livetheir lives ruled by seeking the pleasures and things of the world. Most have no time for Jesus.

        Others, as thereligious leaders of Israel, profess to know God, and yet they serve theDevil by their false doctrines and rejection of God’s truth. ;They have the same spirit in them the Devil’s religious crowd always hashad, they will destroy Truth rather than be saved and submit to Our Holyand Righteous God. By the way, they hate us who standon the fundamentals of the Word of God and preach God’s truth. Do not be mistaken about them, if it were not for the laws of the land,they would be killing us even now. Yes, these arethe same church leaders who claim such a love for the homeless and poor. They join the ranks of the Pharisees who made a show of good works, andwere evil to the core and showed it by crucifying the Lord Jesus.

        3. Yet, Jesushad time for them. Time to lead the glory of Heaven, to cometo this earth, humble Himself before His own creation man, in the greatestact of love ever know, He the righteous and holy God, took all the filthyevil sin of man upon Himself. On that Old Rugged CrossHe suffered and died for you and I that we could be forgiven for our sinand washed white as snow in His shed blood.

      E. Men today are still rejecting Him. They join in with the mob and shout “Away with Him,let Him leave me alone.” Those that will standbefore Him at the Final judgment…. these know the right answer and longsto be saved…..but it is too late! Oh, it is too latefor them. There was a time when it was not too late, but theyturned away and rejected Jesus.

    II. That Day Before that ungodly mob of sinners, the Truth wasproclaimed by a Lost man. (John 18:38)

      A. Pilate proclaimed Jesus innocent of anycrime or wrong doing. But more than this He was beforethe Jews another who testified that Jesus was the Messiah, He wasthe Christ.

        1. In Matt.27:11, Pilate ask Jesus “Are you really the King of the Jews.”

        2. Jesus by Hisanswer confesses that He is the Christ when He replied, “Thou sayest.”

          B. Understand this was the crux of thewhole matter. The Jewish leaders hated him because he claimedto be the Messiah. They hated him because as John10:27-30 records He proclaimed Himself to be God.

            1. His messagewas the message of the Grace of a loving God come to save sinner from theirsin.

            2. His miraclesproclaimed that He was indeed God, for even as Nicodemus the Pharisee andmember of the Sanhedrin proclaimed “No man can do these miracles that thoudoest, except God be with him”(John 3:3)

            3. Theyknew God was with Jesus Christ. No one could deny this and it wasthis same Jesus who said He came to take away the sins of the world, andhe claimed to be God incarnate in flesh.

            4. Jesus said, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believethnot the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

          C. How can a lost man get these words outof his mind, “he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but thewrath of God abideth on him.” Throughout alleternity these word will ring in the lost man’s ears,

            “He that believethon the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shallnot see life but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

      III. There is no Middle Ground, One Either Accepts Jesus Christor they Reject Him.

        A. Pilate tried to do what so many men do. ;He spoke well of Jesus, but then betrayed Him.

          1. He knew thetruth of who Jesus was. How can any man see Jesus Christand then not know who He is? Pilate knew, the chief priestsknew, the mob of Jews knew….they all knew yet they would have nothingto do with Him.

          2. They eachindividually denied him. Yes, they knew Him but denied Him.

          3. When the Wordof God is preached, Christ is there present in the Holy Spirit who bringconviction on the sinners heart.

        ILLUS: Thatman my wife witnessed to knew. Yes, even as the words camefrom his sinful mouth, he knew….He knew that Jesus Christ is the Savior.

        I have told you beforeof a man I tried on several occasions to win to the Lord. Eachtime I would bring the matter up, he would smile and put me off. He would belittle me and my efforts to reach him. He proclaimedhe did not believe in God or life after death. He would havenothing to do with Jesus. He had a bad heart andknew his time was short, yet playing a fools game, he would not believe. He even told his wife to give his body to the University of Utah MedicalSchool for experimentation. This act was one finalact of open defiance of God. God says “The fool has said inhis heart there is no God.”

          4. There is nomiddle ground. You either accept Him or by not accepting Him, you reject Him.

        B. You must either let Jesus into your heartor you must shut Him out.

          1. Rev.3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice,and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and hewith me.”

          2. Luke 19:10says, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that whichwas lost.”

          3. How tragicthat men slam the door and bolt it in the face of God. God’s wordsays why. “And this is the condemnation, that lightis come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, becausetheir deeds were evil” (John 3:19).

        C. You must take your stand for Jesus oryou stand against Him.

          1. This greattruth seems to be little understood by many even in our churches. ;So many who professed to be Christians will not stand with Jesus.Their act of not standing for him in their lives, is a clear testimonyof their personal rejection of Him and His message.

          2. Tothese people everything else takes first place in their lives. They attend church only if it is convenient to do so and there is nothingelse to do. They witness only if it causes them no embarrassment,they give only when they feel they can spare a little change, they seethe church and the preacher as serving them, rather than them serving themserving God and the congregation. They don’t love the lostenough to really go out and try to reach them. A telephonecall or a visit is too much trouble to someone who visits the our church. Giving someone a Gospel tract is too much trouble.

          3. Folks youeither stand with the Lord Jesus or you stand against Him. You either work for the Lord and are faithful to Him or you serve the Devilby your unfaithfulness.

      IV. Conclusion: The Question is this: “What will youdo with Jesus?”

        ILLUS: R A Torrey, the evangelist, told the story of a man who came to visit him. He came in and Mr.Torrey ask him to take a seat. The man sat down and immediatelyask Mr. Torrey, “Can I ask you a question?” Torrey repliedof course you can. The man then said, “My question iswhat do you have against me?” Surprised, Mr. Torrey assuredhim that he did not have anything against him and said he did even reallyknow the man. The man then explained that he was not a Christianand had no intention of accepting Christ. He went on to say he wasa living a moral life, he took care of his family, work hard for his employer,he treated his neighbors well, and said as far as he knew he was doinghis duty in every relationship in life, only he was not a Christian andagain said, “What have you got against me?”

        Mr. Torrey then lookedhim straight into his eyes and said, “I’ll tell you what I have againstyou. Jesus Christ is your King by divine appointment. You admit that you have not accepted Him and therefore you by not standingfor Him are standing against Him.” He continuedlooking straight at the man and said, ” I accuse you of high treason againstheaven’s King.” The man without a word, stood up andwalked across the room for the door. Mr. Torrey, stood up andfollowed him. He open the door and into the hall without aword. Through the hall and into the front door he walked withouta word. Down the steps to the front gate the man walked, neverlooking back even once. He walked down the lane and disappeared fromsight and never even glanced back. Mr. Torrey, said thatmonths went by and he never heard a word from the man and forgot the matter. ;On returning from a trip he said as he stepped from the train a man walkedup to him and ask, “Do you remember me?” Mr. Torrey said no,I seem to remember but cannot remember the exactly. The manthen said do you remember accusing a man of high treason againstHeaven’s King? Torrey replied that he had chargedmany a man with that. The man explained the circumstances andTorrey then remembered the incident.

          1. The man then reachedfor Mr. Torrey’s hand took and it with a strong grip and said, “Sir,you will never again tell me that you accuse me of high treason againstHeaven’s King.” He then sank down on one knee and said oneword, “Down.” Mr Torrey then kneed down beside the manand that man surrendered to the King of Kings and gave his allegianceto His God and Creator.

          2. This man found the Savior. Until that day, he was rejecting Jesus Christand standing against Him. That day he changed his place, becamea true child of God and went on to live his life sold out to His wonderfulLord and Savior.

          3. How many peoplehave accused the pastor or preacher of having something against them becausethey preached the Gospel, loved their souls and wanted to see them savedand living a wondrous life for the Lord Jesus.

          Many get mad and walkaway, never looking back and are offended that any one would evensuggest they were standing for Christ.

          Many try the middleroad of despair. Rejecting Christ daily, but failing to admitthey are. Folks the life of the hypocrite is the most miserable lifeon earth. He claims to be what he is not,and he cannot hide the fact the joy and peace that comes from salvationis not in his life. He knows too what he is missing.

          4. Dear Friend,where are you today. How have you up to now answered thequestion?

          5. Folks Christ reachesout to the lost….Matt. 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye thatlabor and are heavy laden, and I will give yourest.”

          In Mark 8:34it recorded that Jesus said, “And when he had called the peopleunto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will comeafter me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

          6. The coward’s answersthe question as Pon-tius Pilate did. Yes, Jesus is innocent,He is the Christ, yet if I let him go, it will cost me to much. Pilateby not taking a stand joined the crowd and gave Jesus over to thesoldiers who crucified Him.

          How many are like Pilate,they blind their own eyes to the fact that you either accept Jesus as Lordand Savior and serve Him or you reject Him. How hollow and emptyare the words, “There is not middle ground” There is no placeto flee. You will even at this moment either accept orreject the Lord Jesus, the wonderful Savior who loved you so much.

          What will it be? It is your choice. Oh, to God, you will do asthe man who came to see Mr. Torrey surrender today and be saved and livefor the King of King and Lord of Lords.

          7. When you rejectJesus as their Savior do not be mistaken you go down and join the Jewish mob. “Let His blood be on us and on ourchildren.” Folks sadly, tragically that was the wishof the mob and God granted it. They and their childrendied in their sins and now await eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire.

          Folks these peoplestood at the gates of Heaven and turned and to enter Hell.

          Yet, some they believeand put their faith and trust in Jesus! God saves everyonethat will accept Him. Will you do that today!?

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