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Muskegon SDA Church

Crisis at the Close

Jason Sliger

Crisis at the Close: The Trials - Part 1

Father in heaven, this morning we want to follow Jesus, the lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.

We want him to be the leader in our lives.

Father, as we get closer to this dark time in Earth's history, the Bible has told us much about, May the example of Jesus be the guiding force in our lives.

Father bless us this morning as we tread very carefully on sacred ground, As we look at the closing scenes of Jesus's life, may you speak to our hearts.

We thank you and we praise you in Jesus's name.

Our theme Bible passage as we've been going through our series, Crisis at the Close, has been Revelation chapter 14 and verse 4.

We read it together in our scripture reading this morning.

But the part of the passage that I want to focus on, as we've been focusing on week after week, is the part where the Bible says, "'These are they which follow the Lamb.'" What's the next word there?

"'Wherever He goes.'" This is, again, talking about the 144, 000, those who are alive on earth, right before Jesus comes back, those who have become so accustomed to following Jesus, no matter where he leads them to go, that's where they want to be.

The 144, 000, the redeemed of God's people, they don't just follow Jesus or follow the Lamb in the times of peace and prosperity, but they follow him also in the times of trial and adversity.

This is the passage that needs to be a reality in our lives that we will follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

Now as we follow the Lamb wherever He goes, we're told in Inspiration, we've read this statement many times, that before we can follow Jesus in the courts above, we first have to become accustomed to following him where?

In fact, she tells us it's our privilege to be able to follow him here below.

And I look forward to that becoming a reality in my life and in your life and in our lives collectively as a church as we follow the Lamb, preparing for this crisis at the close.

Now this morning I wanna share with you a passage of scripture as we begin, 1 that has touched my heart many times as I have read it.

Peter says this, "'For even here unto where you call, "'because Christ also, ' what?

"'He suffered for us, leaving us a, ' what?

Example that you should follow his steps.

Now, many times this Bible passage is understood in a general context, that we are to follow the example of Jesus in everything.

And although that is true, the actual context of the passage is in the context of suffering.

Jesus suffered for us, and in that suffering, he has left a what?

An example of how we ought to respond when we come into our time of suffering.

The crisis at the close, the time of earth's history when God's people are going to be standing alone in their relationship with God is going to be a time of suffering.

And during that time of suffering, we need to look to Jesus as our example of how we ought to respond and live.

When you're suffering, is it hard to not sin?

But as Jesus was suffering, this example that he has left us, the Bible tells us in the midst of that suffering, and we're gonna see it in our study together this morning, that in the midst of that suffering, he did know what?

Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, meaning he didn't say hateful words against those who were persecuting him and causing him to suffer.

It goes on, who when he was reviled, reviled not again.

When He suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that what?

I don't know about you, but I wanna put my life in the hands of God, amen?

This is the example that we need to follow as we come into this hour of crisis in our lives, the hour of suffering that is before us, we want to follow the example of Jesus.

Now it's interesting to me just in passing here, this word example in 1 Peter 2 verse 21, It's the only time that it's used in the New Testament.

And it's interesting that the word conveys something very interesting.

The word was used to refer to when a teacher would give his students a copy of the Greek alphabet.

And from that copy, they would copy that example, or from that example, they would copy the alphabet of the Greek alphabet.

And so basically what Peter is telling us here is that Jesus is the copy and we are to follow him as an example in our lives, specifically in the example of suffering.

Now, in our study together last week, we looked at the time when the mob came to take Jesus away to his trials.

Now, we say trials because it wasn't just 1.

There were actually 6 trials that Jesus went through before he was ultimately crucified.

We're going to look at those 6 trials over the next couple of studies together.

But as we looked at Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, as the mob cruelly laid their hands upon him, we found that Judas, as we know, was the 1 who betrayed Jesus, this man who had walked with Jesus for 3 and a half years, And as we looked at that, we saw that Jesus told us that in the last days, that our worst enemies would be those of our very own household.

And as we looked at that story, what we found is that when that man who was so close to Jesus betrayed him, there was no guile that was found in Jesus' mouth.

As Judas laid his disgusting lips on the face of Jesus in a kiss of betrayal.

He called him a friend, a word of endearment in that time of trial, in that time of betrayal, and then as it led on into that time of persecution.

And brothers and sisters, what we find is that same character that Jesus manifested when Judas betrayed him is the same character that we see in the life of Jesus as he goes from 1 trial after another all through those 6 trials until his ultimate death upon the cross.

That character of love to those who have mistreated him.

Now I wanna ask you a question this morning.

And maybe you've wrestled with this question before in your own personal life, I don't know.

But the question is this, why does God allow his children to suffer?

It's clearly obvious here as you look at the story of Jesus that God, it was God's will for Jesus to suffer.

It was God's will for Jesus to go through these 6 trials.

It was God's will for Him to be crucified on the cross to die for our sins.

Why does God allow humans to persecute other humans?

Now I think there's a lot of answers to this question and we can get very philosophical in trying to answer it, but I want to give you a simple answer that I think is worth contemplating this morning.

And that is because God is using us as a demonstration.

You know, the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 9, you can just write that down, that the Bible says we are made a spectacle unto the world and to angels and to men.

God is using his people as a demonstration that even in times of suffering, that even in times of persecution, that even in times of trial and difficulty, they will maintain their spiritual integrity.

And that is the greatest evidence that Satan is a liar and that God is truth.

Maybe God allows you to go through a trial because he wants to use you as a demonstration.

I don't know, maybe you've experienced this before where you have met somebody who's gone through a dark period in their life.

God brought them through that valley and as they've come out of that valley, the sunshine of the morning is shining in their eyes.

And as they share that experience of that darkness, that trial, that suffering, that difficult time that they went through, as they share that experience, it is a demonstration of God's sustaining power even in the times of difficulty.

Brothers and sisters, as this time of crisis comes at the close, God is wanting to use you as a demonstration to silence the accusations of Satan.

What a privilege that God wants to use me to silence the accusations of Satan that God is unjust.

This concept needs to be very clear in your mind.

It's something that you need to go back and wrestle with.

Because when you come to that hour of darkness, when you come to that hour of trial and crisis in your life, if this concept is not clear in your mind, you will be tempted like Peter and the other disciples to deny Jesus and to turn your back on him.

Popular Christianity today, you know, gives the picture or paints the picture that if you are faithful to God, that all that comes to you is nothing but blessing.

And that if you are not faithful to God, then a curse will come upon you or trials will come upon you.

Sounds very similar to the Jewish mindset, doesn't it?

That's not the notion that we see in Scripture this morning, neither is it in the notion that we see throughout Scripture.

This is something we need to have clear in our minds as we enter into this time of crisis at the close that God faithfully stands next to His children in both the good and the bad times.

Now, before we actually get into our study together this morning, I want to share with you something that I think is important for you to think about.

Satan, as you may or may not know, is spending time studying your character.

Crisis at the Close: The Trials - Part 2

Father in heaven, we thank you that you are a God who hears and answers our prayers.

And this morning, Lord, we ask that you would chase away the distractions of life of this past week and the week coming up, That we would be able to sit here in silence and hear the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to our hearts.

Father, we pray that you would help us to see the character of Jesus more fully.

And as we behold it, may we become like it, we ask.

Our theme Bible passage in our study together has been Revelation chapter 14 and verse 4, where the Bible gives 1 of the characteristics of the 144, 000, those who are alive on earth before Jesus comes back.

There are many characteristics of these people, but the Bible tells us specifically that they are people who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

It doesn't matter where the Lamb ends up, if it's in times of peace and prosperity, if it's in times of challenges and difficulty, the 144, 000 are close behind the Lamb as they follow him wherever he leads.

Now, as we've been studying together, we have all made the decision that we want to be part of this group, amen?

And the Bible, or the spirit of prophecy tells us in the Review and Herald, April 12, 1898, we need not wait till we are translated to follow Christ.

We shall follow the Lamb of God in the courts above only if we follow him here.

It is our privilege as God's children to be able to follow the Lamb here on this earth in this time of earth's history.

And indeed, if we want to follow him in the courts of heaven above, we must do so here below first.

And the question is, am I willing to follow the Lamb wherever He may lead me?' In our last study together, we concluded by looking at 1 thing that sustained Jesus as He went through this dark hour in his life.

We looked at how Jesus went through the Garden of Gethsemane.

We found that as Jesus went into the garden, he went in depressed, as he went in with great anxiety, he went in struggling, he went in resisting what the Father's will was in a sense, praying that the Father's will would be for the cup to pass.

And as he went through that time of prayer, surrendering his will to the will of the Father, he went into the garden depressed and challenged.

He came out of the garden with that depression lifted and calm and serene and ready to meet the devil's fury.

In a sense, everything turned in that prayer in the garden and I'm so thankful that Jesus stopped and had that prayer before that trial began.

As we concluded our study together in our last study 2 weeks ago, we found that 1 of the things that sustained Jesus during that dark hour was that he knew his father.

He had 33 years of walking and talking with his heavenly father.

He knew his father so well, and he knew his father's will so well that although all of this terrible stuff was happening in his life, although the storm of opposition had broken upon him, even though he was being cruelly treated by the mob, even though he was betrayed by 1 of his closest friends, even though religious leaders were mistreating him, all of this stuff was taking place.

He knew his father so well that it did not drive him to let go of his hold on his father's hand.

In fact, we read in the Bible together in the Gospel of John, John chapter 17, verse 3, where the Bible says, and this is life eternal that they might know thee.

And this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God.

We read in Daniel chapter 11 how the Bible tells us that those who went through the hour of great trial, religious persecution during the 1, 260 years of papal persecution, that those people had power because they knew God.

What was it that sustained Jesus during that time of his great trial?

What was it that sustained the great saints of the Reformation that sustained them during their time of trial as well?

What was it that sustained these great men and women and Christ himself was that they had an intimate knowledge of their heavenly Father.

And it's the same thing that will take place in the crisis at the close.

Those who will stand during this time of great trial will know their heavenly Father intimately.

It's not a knowledge that you will acquire in the time of trial.

It's not a knowledge that you will gain once you are in the crisis, but it's a knowledge that we must gain now and develop now so that it sustains us when that hour of crisis comes.

But for some of us, we're too busy with the cares of life to invest in a knowledge that will see us through to the kingdom of heaven.

It's time for us to reorganize our priorities because life eternal is in knowing our heavenly father.

We also discussed how God allows these trials and difficulties to come upon us because he allows it to happen for a demonstration to the world that there are people in the world who are faithful to God no matter what.

There are people in the world who are faithful to God no matter what.

There are people in the world who are faithful like Job was faithful to God, though he slay me, yet shall I trust him.

That there will be people in this world who will go contrary to the devil's accusations in the great controversy, that they will stand in the midst of trial telling the world that God is just and willing, or rather that he should be served, even though the devil is saying something quite the opposite.

Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 4 and verse 9 that we are made a spectacle unto the world and to angels and to men.

As I'm made a spectacle, I want the spectacle to be that others see Jesus in me.

It's an important concept to get into our mind because when that hour of trial and difficulty comes, we need to know why God allows these things to take place.

Otherwise, we may be tempted to let go of our Father's hand.

We're in the midst of 6 trials that are taking place in the life of Jesus.

Those 3 trials, the verdict was all guilty.

There were 3 trials that were civil under the Roman government, and the verdict of all 3 of those trials was innocent.

We've looked at 2 trials already, 2 religious trials, and in both of those trials, the verdict was guilty.

This morning, we will look at the third trial, same verdict, and the first of the civil trials as Jesus stands before Pilate for the first time.

In our last study, we've seen how Jesus stood before Annas, the ex-high priest, a great man who was respected by the religious community, but was unable to secure what was needed for the condemnation of Jesus.

He was then hurried off to stand before Caiaphas, and as Jesus stood before Caiaphas, as Jesus stood before the promiscuous crowd that was in Caiaphas's palace.

All of them were compelled that this man was the Son of God.

They were convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit, but they pushed that conviction to the side and condemned Jesus as a common criminal.

This morning we will look at the story of Jesus standing before the Jewish Sanhedrin.

Go with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke.

Luke, the 22nd chapter, we will pick up the story in the 66th verse.

Luke, chapter 22, we're going to pick it up in verse 66.

Now while you are turning there, let me give you a little bit of history.

This, at this point in Jesus's trials or in the last few hours of his life, it is early in the morning, Friday morning.

Thursday, Jesus had instituted the Last Supper, and then he went into the Garden of Gethsemane.

He spent great hours there praying to his heavenly Father.

Then the mob dragged him in the darkness of the night to stand before Annas and then Caiaphas.

Then they held him for some certain time before the hours of sunrise happened.

At this point, the sun is beginning to peek its head over the horizon as they bring Jesus in now to stand before the Jewish Sanhedrin.

Well, Jesus stood before Caiaphas just moments or hours before.

Caiaphas said, don't turn there, but in Matthew 26, verse 65, he has spoken blasphemy, What further need have we of witness behold now we have heard his blasphemy what think ye they answered and said?

He is guilty of Death you may find this interesting But under the Jewish system of law the members of the Sanhedrin were to have a secret ballot or a secret poll that would take place to find what the verdict was in a criminal trial.

The reason for this was because They did not want men of higher influence to influence men of lower influence.

And so they had a secret polling that would take place or a ballot that would happen where they would poll the people of the Sanhedrin and then finally compile the verdict.

Caiaphas threw this to the wind, and he used his influence to sway the people that were there in his palace to make this verdict of guilty.

There are many laws that govern the Jewish Sanhedrin that were not followed in the trials of Jesus.

And I will share a few of them with you this morning.

Also in this system of law, prisoners could not be legally condemned under the cover of darkness.

But as Jesus said when he stood before Caiaphas, he said his teachings were always done in the light, out in the open, everybody could hear what he had to say, but for the religious leaders, they had to work under the cover of darkness because what they were doing was contrary to the law of the Jews.

That's why Jesus had to stand before the Sanhedrin.

And this is where we pick it up in verse 63.

Luke 22 in verse 63, the Bible says this.

And the men that held Jesus mocked him and smote him.

And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face and asked him saying, prophesy, who is it that smote thee?

And many other things blasphemously spake they against him.

Now as I've already mentioned, this is happening, verses 63 through 65, before the sun has risen.

Jesus has not been officially condemned by the Sanhedrin as guilty of death, yet they are treating him as a common criminal.

They covered him with a cloth and hit him in the face.

And Eloi tells us that when they removed that cloth, some poor wretched man spat in the face of the Son of God.

And he hadn't even stood before the Sanhedrin yet.

Demonic hatred filled these people as they mistreated the Son of God.

Crisis at the Close: The Trials - Part 3

Father in heaven, we are choosing to follow the leader, and you are our leader.

We ask, Lord, that as we take a few moments to thoughtfully reflect upon the closing scenes of Jesus's life.

Father, please send your Holy Spirit to speak words of life to our hearts, to apply it just where it needs to be.

Lord, we want to see Jesus and we want to be like him.

Our theme Bible passage in this Bible study together has been Revelation chapter 14, where we have been looking at 1 of the characteristics of God's last day people, described in Revelation 14 and Revelation 7 as the 144, 000.

This group of people are described in various characteristics, but we've been zeroing in on this 1 particular characteristic where the Bible tells us that they are a group of people who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

They are so fixated on the Lord and where he is going that they do not let him out of their sight.

They follow the Lamb both in the good times and in the trying times.

There is nothing that breaks their vision from following the lamb wherever he goes.

Now, it's interesting, you might find this interesting.

We haven't really zippered in on this too much, but this word follow here is the same Greek word that is used to describe the following of Jesus' disciples.

In Matthew chapter 4 verses 20 and 22, the Bible says, and they straightway, or immediately, left their nets and followed him, talking about Peter and Andrew, leaving their nets and following after Jesus.

And then in verse 22, and they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him, talking about James and John.

And the word follow there, it literally means to join as one's disciple or to become his disciple.

And so as these men left their nets, they left their ship, they left their family, and they followed Jesus, they were becoming disciples of his, following him wherever he went.

So the same thing is true with God's people in the last days, the 144, 000 who follow the Lamb wherever he goes, they are becoming disciples of Christ, observing him as their example of how they ought to live their lives.

How many of you want to be a disciple of Christ, amen?

I want to follow him as Peter, James, John, all of these disciples followed Jesus wherever he went.

Now as I mentioned already, we are in the midst of the trials of Christ.

There are 6 trials that Jesus went through.

Just as a little refresher here, there are 3 trials that he went through that were religious, 3 trials that were civil.

The 3 trials that were religious, the verdict was guilty.

The 3 trials that were civil, the verdict was innocent.

The religious leaders were condemning Jesus on the basis of blasphemy that he, as a man, was claiming to be the son of God.

Now of course, he was the son of God, so he wasn't being blasphemous in that claim.

However, when they brought him into the civil court of Pilate and then Herod and then Pilate again, each time in that civil court system, they did not find anything that was worthy of death, even though the outcome of these trials was that Jesus was condemned to death.

These last 2 trials, I like to refer to them as the silent trials of Christ.

The first 4, Jesus spoke in all 4 of those trials.

The last 2, he is silent like a lamb being led to the slaughter.

And so now we're going to turn our attention to the next trial of Jesus.

If you would turn there with me in your Bibles, we're going to look at the trial that Jesus had before Herod.

Luke 23, and we're going to pick this up, we're gonna start in verse 12 here in just a moment.

As you probably know, Pilate was vacillating between whether or not he would condemn Jesus to death.

He looked at him, in his mind, Jesus was innocent.

But the crowd was crying for him to be crucified.

And so what we find is that when Pilate found out that Herod was in town and that Jesus was a Galilean, he decided that he would shove the responsibility off from himself and let Herod be the 1 who ultimately made the decision whether or not Jesus was to be condemned.

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Crisis at the Close

Crisis at the Close: The Cross

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