Great time to do it, man. Amen. I believe. Oh, I believe. I believe the Lord. A hand. Thank you, God. Thank you, God. Thank you all.
You know, if you've ever—and I know none of you ever have—I know I'm probably wandering off, maybe looked away and walked the wrong direction for a minute. How many of you know it happens? And you may have forgotten who you are. And you may have forgotten who you are. When he says you are, that's who you are. You may have forgotten who you are. And if you've forgotten who you are, let me remind you of who he is. Hallelujah. Because he's Lord of Lords. And he's King of Kings. And there's none like him. So remind yourself of who he is. Don't forget who he is. If you don't forget who he is, you'll never forget who you are. Because you are the apple of his eye. You are his chosen. Amen. Praise the Lord.
This is the crescendo for a believer of each year. The night before Jesus was crucified, we know the story that most of us, the night before Jesus was crucified, he had what has come to be known as the Last Supper. And you know, you gotta understand that Jesus changed everything. Yes. He changed the way people would interact with the Lord forever. He changed the way people would look toward heaven forever. He changed what was called religion forever. Amen. Amen. He said, "I'm giving you a new covenant." Thank God for the old covenant. Thank God for the law. But the law was a schoolmaster, according to scripture, to bring us to Christ. Aren't you glad that you're not under Jewish law? Amen. I don't know about y'all, but if we were under Jewish law, you might as well count me out. I used to say I could never be a good Jew because two syllables, one word, and that's bacon. I don't know that I can do it now, but I don't know, man. But we're not under the law. He said, "I'm giving you a new covenant. I'm giving you a new will." He upgraded his will. Hallelujah. And you're in it.
And he raised that bread up that day and he said, "He broke it and said, 'Take this, eat, for this is my body which is broken for you.'" Hadn't been to the cross yet, hadn't been to the whipping post yet at all. He knew it was coming. Then he said, "He raised the cup, take drink, is the blood of my new covenant. This is the blood of my new testament." Hallelujah. I suppose that, I guess from my opinion today—and my opinion changes sometimes daily—but from my opinion today, the most compassionate and the most loving words that he had spoken up to that point was when he looked at Judas. Judas had taken, he had eaten, he had drank, he had seen all the miracles, he had been there when the dead was raised. When the blinded eyes were opened. He'd seen it, man. But I suppose the most loving, the most compassionate thing that Jesus could have ever said at that time was when he looked at Judas and he said, "Go do what you have to." Gave him every chance, just like he gave you and me every chance. Judas walked the wrong direction.
Later on, he goes to the garden and he prays. He takes his three disciples and says, "Let's pray." Jesus knew what was coming. Now y'all know me, and you've known me long enough to know that I think differently almost about everything. I'll tell you several years ago when I said—this is after Bible college and all that—I said, "You know what? I'm going to read the word of God again like I'm reading it for the first time." Twenty years ago, twenty-five years ago. And then I'm just going to believe it for itself. Not what Scofield told me I needed to believe. Not wrong, Scofield, got no bones to pick. Not because Dake told me to believe it, nothing against Dake, got no bones to pick. But I'm just going to believe it. And man, things started happening.
And so Jesus knew what was coming. Close to the garden, his disciples there, they fell asleep. Y'all all know the story. They fell asleep. Jesus went, "Hey, could you not just pray with me for an hour?" They couldn't. How many of you know they hadn't been in power? He prayed. Now this is where I get off the reservation a little bit compared to novel Christianity, but he prayed, "Lord," and here's in the King James, which reads like this: "Lord, if it was possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done."
Now I know the popular teaching is that Jesus was conflicted and he was worried and he didn't want to do it. I don't believe that. I'm sorry, I just don't believe that. I believe what he was saying was prophetic. In other words, when he's praying in that garden, he's going, "Father, I know that there's no other way and this is how it has to be, so I willingly embrace what's about to happen; nevertheless, not my will but your will be done."
In a minute, here come the Roman guards. Jesus had tipped them off. He comes with them. He had tipped them off and said, "The one that I kiss is the one." He goes straight to Jesus, got the whole garage of Roman soldiers and priests and stuff there, and kisses Jesus. And I believe Jesus looked at him with every ounce of compassion that he ever looked at anybody with, and he says, "Do you betray any one you kiss?" And in one account, they said, "Where's Jesus?" He goes, "I'm here." And in one account, it says the power of God just hit them and they all fell out. And this happened a couple of times. I don't know about you, but if I would have been one of those Roman soldiers and the dude we were after spoke and it knocked me down, I don't think I would have got back up and come at him again. But they did.
One of them called Peter. Robbie alluded to this on this morning. Peter took his sword, cut Malchus's ear off. Now Peter thought he was doing what he was supposed to do. See, I know none of y'all ever got out and did something you weren't supposed to do thinking you were doing the right thing. Have you noticed how we justify our own behavior and sin for somebody else to do it until we do it? Alright, don't meddle, Chris, sin with somebody else's kids. But the other—and Jesus took the ear that had been cut off, picked it up, stuck it back over Mr. Potato Head, and healed the boy's ear like it had never been cut off of the way so that he could hear properly the gospel.
See, some of those that even fought the hardest against Jesus then and now, he heals and he loves. Come on, he loves those nasty religious Pharisees just as much as he loves the drunkards and the prostitutes. I start saying those words, prostitutes. Amen. He loves them just the same.
They took him. Y'all ever heard this before? They took him, they arrested him, they stripped him down, tied him to a whipping post, and they beat him half to death. We're not going to sugarcoat it this morning. They beat him without mercy. They beat him with an intent to kill him with the beating, because that did happen sometimes. As a matter of fact, that did happen many times when a man was beaten like that, he never made it to the cross. Carmen used to sing the song, "This blood's for you." And as Jesus' back and neck and head, shoulders, thighs, arms, legs were ripped to shreds, a matter of fact, it says in the word of God that he was so beaten that he was not even recognizable as a man. Every drop of blood that fell from the Son of God's body was shed for good. Redemption was in that blood. Yes, indeed, the old song, "There's power, power, power in the blood." There's power in that blood, absolutely.
He endured that whipping and he shed his blood while you and I were spitting in his face and cussing him out. Oh, I know you say you'd never do that. They led him out into the area the next day. The religious crowd was screaming for blood. The religious crowd only wanted his death. They did not want his healing. Pilate comes out, said, "It's a Roman custom for me to release a prisoner to you." The insinuation was, "We beat this man and he didn't die. I don't want to crucify him. You can have him." There was a murderer, a robber, another bad guy there too that day named Barabbas. Y'all heard me preach this many, many times. Barabbas means the son of the father. That's what that name meant. Barabbas, who was guilty, who was a criminal, who was not a good guy.
Who would you—Pilate said, "Who would you have me release?" They’re going, "Give us Barabbas." See, the religious crowd, "Give us Barabbas." We wanted someone that's gonna lead an insurrection. We want someone that's gonna fight. Jesus was the Son of God, the King of all Israel, but he wasn't the kind of king they thought they wanted. They wanted a king only to overthrow the government and give them power. See, most men, they don't care what you believe. They don't care if they're helping you. All they want is political power.
"What then would you have me do with this Jesus?" And the crowd began to scream, "Crucify him! Murder him!" Now I know what most of us in the West, most of us Americans think when we get to this part of the story. We think, "Chris DeWoot, if I'd have been there, I would have said no." You probably have thought that. "If I'd have been there, I would have said no." But I want you to understand something: that event was ordained by God Almighty. They had to cry, "Crucify him." Nah, you're not gonna like this, but you can't receive him until you're ready to say, "Crucify him." Don't like that? It's a hard pill to swallow, but I can't receive him until after I've cried, "Crucify him. Give us the son of the father. Give us Barabbas." Without even knowing what they were saying, they were fulfilling the prophetic call of God to his people, and it refrained from his people back to them, "Crucify him. There is no other way."
And they let him down when I wash my hands of this, thinking he could do some kind of ceremony, thinking he could do some kind of ceremony or ritual. How many of you know your ceremonies or rituals will perish with you? Gonna wash my hands of it, hoping he would be absolved from guilt, which he was not. You can do all your religious rituals you want to, man, but if he's not living inside of you, you're not just doomed in the afterlife; you're doomed in this life.
And he grabbed that cross. I'm talking about a man that had just been beaten almost to death, and he pulled it down what we now call the Via Dolorosa. His body was so weak from the beating and the loss of blood and the dehydration that he took it as far as that human body could carry. When he fell, they were bound and determined they were gonna nail him to that sucker. And they called a man that happened to be standing there, Simon of Cyrene, carrying his cross. See, the Jewish people had said when they—when he said, "What would you have me do with him?" they cried, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" But they did not stop there. They said, and I quote, "Let his blood be upon our heads and the heads of our descendants," not knowing most likely that they had just pronounced upon their group of people that still endures to this day.
Yeah, flip side of that is also a blessing. "Let his blood cover me." And I just—Simon, they forced that man. For Whitey, for you, Whitey, I just want you to know that man was a black man. A black man endures way more than most of you white people can even imagine. Just saying. That black man carried that cross the rest of the way for him. Come on, we're all equal. It don't matter what race you're from. He died. It don't matter. You're a human. You're kin to me, whether you like it or not. You're a human. You're kin to me on some level. So it doesn't matter whether it's the Jews, it doesn't matter whether it's Africans, it doesn't matter whether it's the one from Ethiopia, it doesn't matter if it's an Egyptian, an Alaskan, Iranian, Iraqi. It doesn't matter if he's a Democrat or a Republican. Come on, he died for everybody. Everybody. Everybody.
Got down to the place of the skull, the word Golgotha, and nailed him through his hands and his feet to that cross. Can you imagine? Raised that cross, dropped it in the hole. This man, this God, this only begotten Son of God took my place, took your place, paid my penalty. I had quite a penalty myself, so did you. Paid it in full. Soldiers gambled at his feet, fulfilling scripture, fulfilling prophecy. His disciples had scattered. They ran when they realized that—not before—what was really going to happen. Can you imagine the shame? Can you imagine when Peter said, "Lord, I'll never. Everybody else may forsake you, but not me, not I. I will never forsake you." And Jesus said with love, he said, "Peter, let me tell you something. Before that rooster crows three times in the morning, before that rooster crows, Peter, I know your heart means well. I know right now you think you mean what you say, but before that rooster crows in the morning, you're going to deny me three times." No way. And then he called Peter Satan at one point. How would that make you feel if the Son of God looked at you and called you Satan? I don't think I like that. I'm sure there's times in my life when he should have and could have.
Somebody goes, "You're one of his followers." I know you are. He goes, "No way, not me." Later on, same thing. "Listen, I know you're one because you sound like him." He goes, "No, I don't know the man." Then a bit later, it happens again. "Your speech betrays you. I know you're a follower." And I know that in Redneck America you think it means something, but he swore an oath. It doesn't mean that he just cussed. Now Peter probably cussed. He might have cussed, but that has nothing to do with what he said. When he says he swore an oath, it wasn't that he just said, "Oh, blankety-blank, I don't know him." That might have been part of it, but the more important part when he swore an oath as a Jew, if you swore an oath, you're tied to that oath the rest of your life. So he says to those people, "I don't know the man." Whoa, look at it like that. He goes, "I swear to God, I don't know the man." Immediately, the rooster crowed, and immediately Peter remembered what Jesus had spoken when it came to pass.
So can you imagine that next day, the ones like Peter, this one that they didn't follow, this one that they were certain— they were certain he's the King of the Jews. They were certain that they were going to get power, they were going to be in control, and they were going to destroy those evil Romans, and they were going to replace that government that our government was instituted by God, and we're the chosen people. It was the furthest thing from Jesus' mind. Don't you know how those boys must have felt? Steve came back. He's on the cross. Here comes Mary Magdalene. Here comes his own mom. Some of y'all in here are moms. Can you imagine standing there with your son hanging on a cross, beaten half to death, knowing that within minutes, most likely at the most within a couple of hours, this boy's going to die, and there's nothing you can do about it?
And there's young John standing with Jesus' mother. Jesus, can you imagine how hard it must have been for that human body that Jesus was inhabiting to speak? It was, in my opinion, it was a supernatural event that he could say anything. And look down at his mama and one of his followers, John the beloved, and said, "Woman, behold your son. Behold your mother." So he didn't forget his mama even on the cross. He gave her care to this apostle John for John to watch out for her all the rest of her life. And I think it's almost rather unique, at least, that John was the only disciple that didn't suffer martyrdom. Jesus suffered martyrdom. He stayed alive to take care of his mama. Just did.
At one point he said, "I thirst." Now they would take—in the word of God in King James it says it's a vinegar solution. It wasn't like what we would call vinegar necessarily. It was a fermented, mumbled, like a hard liquor drink, and then put it on there, and they would give it to the guys dying to try to alleviate their pain. Jesus refused that. I'm convinced because he wanted to suffer every absolute bit of suffering he was called to suffer to pay your price. He didn't want to leave anything hanging on the cross. He didn't want to leave anything undone. He wanted to experience the full amount of affliction and pain and penalty that you and I deserved. Amen.
Those soldiers gambled at his feet, and as those people mocked at him—and I preached about the thief on the cross just a few weeks ago when the one thief railed on him, and the other said, "Remember me." Jesus said, "Today, come on now, Jesus, go today, you're going to be with me." But he looked at those that were cursing him, had spit on him and beaten him, and he said, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing." I wonder how many times—because the word of God says that right now Jesus has ascended to the right hand of God where he's ever making, constantly making intercession for me. I wonder how many times the Son has to look at the Father in my lap and go, "Forgive him, Lord, he's stupid. Forgive him, he don't know what he's doing."
Y'all laughing because it is humorous, but I tell you what, when you're going through it, I'm mighty glad that I was forgiven. You don't know what he's doing. This Lord, this—now pull up the scripture. She said when Jesus had therefore received the vinegar, he said, "It is finished." It is finished. And he bowed his head and he gave up the ghost. Said, "I have paid their debt. It is finished. Struggle with addiction? It's finished. Let him finish it off. Struggle with habitual sin? It's finished, man. Let Jesus finish it off. Struggle with your mindsets? Listen, don't try to justify your sin. Confess your sin and repent of it. Don't be trying to justify it. It doesn't work. It's finished. It's done. He finished it. And it's beyond our comprehension. It's beyond my comprehension. I can't figure it. I can't reason it out. All I know is he did it. I can't even really try to begin to explain to you what he did. I can't theologically, this course, I don't know, but I know it's finished. And he gave up the ghost.
Just keep on going, brother. I mean, in Mark chapter 16, verse 1, Jesus had been crucified. They had put him in a tomb. They had rolled the stone there. The Jews had begged the Romans to put guards there. You know what's funny to me is the apostles and Jesus' followers couldn't remember that he said he was going to raise on the third day. Somehow they—how you not going to get that? He said it a hundred times, it seems. Jews heard it. They went to the Romans. He said, "He was going to raise on the third day. We're afraid they're going to try to do some, you know, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain thing and try to make people think he rose from the dead." And so they stationed guards there. One account—can you imagine being one of those guards who feels about the lowest form of Roman soldier there is? Most likely you're a buck private. You know, you're just, "Okay, we're going to—how come y'all are here?" "Well, we got in trouble last week. This is our punishment. We ought to stay in the cemetery all night." "Alright." So those guys, they weren't expecting anything. They hated the Jews. They didn't believe. They had multiple—they believed kind of like us in America. They believed whatever was convenient. They never justified their sins. And they're there. They stay all night, probably sleeping, tired, trying to stay awake.
All of a sudden, I'm not exactly sure what it was. I'm going to say it was probably about sunrise. All of a sudden, God sent an angel. They rolled that stone away, and there was nothing those soldiers could do about it. Can you imagine being like, "What is going on?" And they just—Jesus rose. Ladies and gentlemen, Jesus was dead, and on that third day, he rose from the dead to seal our fates, transform you from sin. Behold the Lamb of God who is going to forgive you of all your sins. No, no, no. He said, "Behold the Lamb of God that takes away sin." Hallelujah. When he takes it away, sin doesn't control me anymore. I'm not trying to justify it because it has no control over me anymore. Hallelujah.
Jesus rose from the dead very early in the morning on the first day of the week. That would be Sunday. They were at the rising of the sun. They said among themselves, "Who is going to roll the stone away from the door of the sepulcher?" They knew they weren't strong enough to do it. And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away, for it was very great. In other words, it was a big old rock. And entering into the sepulcher—sepulcher means the tomb—they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment, and they were scared. Freaked them out, okay? And he said to them, "Don't be afraid. You're looking for Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified. He is risen." Amen. He rose from the dead. Amen.
They came in expecting to find his body. He had rose. The angel had to go, "Don't be afraid. He's not here. Don't be looking for Jesus among the dead things. Behold, here is the place where they laid him. But go your way. I love this. Tell his disciples and Peter that he's going before you into Galilee, and there you're going to see him just like he said." Of all the disciples, now by now Judas had already went and hung himself. It was over. The disciples had scattered. John was most likely trying to reason it out. Now Jesus had placed his mother Mary in John's care, but Peter was the one that denied him.
I want you all to think about something. Three days later, they may or may not have fully understood what Judas had done, even though he led the pack that night back to Jesus. Some of his followers might not have understood that, and they had known because many of them had been around that Peter had denied him three times. So I want you all to just reason this out and think about it. In some of those disciples' minds, they probably thought Peter was Judas. Peter's the one that denied him three times. Peter's the one that Jesus prophesied and said, "He ain't going to follow. He ain't going to deny me three times until the world grows."
So Jesus, first thing he tells them, he's going to kill his disciples and Peter. Peter, you're included. Now I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand and say who beside me, who in here has been like Peter, has denied him with your actions to the point where you thought— to the point where you thought nothing left for me, nothing left for me. He can't take me. He can't want me. I'm going to tell you, he picks the puppy that nobody else wants. He picks the one of the litter. He picks the one that everybody else wrote off and threw away.
Who will tell his disciples, "Have Peter risen from the dead." So Jesus does exactly as he said he was going to do. In the book of Luke, it talks about at one point there was a couple of followers that were walking about everything happening. Jesus just come on, man. Jesus just happened up, and they didn't know who he was. And they're talking about—he says, "What are you talking about?" They said, "You ain't from around here, are you, boy? You don't know what all's been going on." And they started telling him all the stuff. I want you to think about something. The only testimony that those two had on the road to Emmaus, the only testimony they had up to that point is what they'd seen Jesus doing, all that had happened.
Come on, man. Don't knock somebody just 'cause their testimony ain't as shiny as you think yours is. Don't knock somebody 'cause they don't know as much theology as you do. You know, no, no, not—they're giving their testimony based on the place that they're at. They're telling about Jesus the best they can, and they're talking. Jesus is walking with them. Hey, they don't know it's undercover boss, man. That was the first episode ever of undercover boss right there. Jesus is walking with them. They're talking. The more they talk, the more the fire, the more their heart begins to be stirred.
And don't you know what Jesus is? He's walking with them. He's just letting them go. He's just letting them talk. They keep talking about him. I tell you, don't you knock somebody because they may not be exactly where you think you are. Just let that person keep on talking. Keep on talking. Sooner or later, they're going to get it on a level they never got it before. Hallelujah. I hope as long as I've been walking with him that tomorrow I'm going to get it on a level that I don't have it today. Come on. In the meantime, after the best of my ability, I'm going to keep telling you about the Jesus that I know. Hallelujah. In the meantime, the best I can, I'm going to keep preaching the gospel of Christ and him crucified, and I'm going to do my best to keep it simple.
He finally—he finally dawned on them who he was. And then he just kind of—I mean, you gotta love Jesus, man. He don't tell me he didn't have a flair for a little bit of a dramatic. All of a sudden, he's just like, "Oh, didn't our hearts burn?" So then the disciples, a little bit later, the disciples, they're freaked. They're scared. They're thinking, "Well, they killed him. They're going to come for us next." They're hunkered down in a house. Jesus happens up. And I love this. There's not a story about Jesus that I don't go, "Yeah, get him." He didn't knock on the door. He didn't say, "It is I, boys. Open up unto me." No, he didn't do any of that. You know what he did? He got them all in there freaked out, scared. He didn't walk through the wall. He's just there. Whoa. He encouraged them.
One we call Thomas. You can call him doubting Thomas. I'm going to call him believing Thomas. Didn't see that in him. And tried to tell him, he's going, "You can talk all you want to. I ain't going to believe it until I see it for myself." You can talk all you want to. I'm just going to tell you what I know. Amen. So he said, "As a matter of fact, I'm not going to believe until I see the holes in his wrists and his hands and his side." How many of you know Jesus doesn't—he care what you believe? It's very important because what you really believe will determine your actions. Amen. You can talk about what you want people to think. Your actions are going to say what you really believe. Amen. How many of you know Jesus cares about that?
So he comes. When he reveals himself to Thomas, he goes, "Thomas, give me your hand. Here's the nail." Thomas falls to his knees and, "Oh my God." Jesus, listen now. Jesus, knowing that out of those eleven boys that were left, ten of them gave their lives for the second gospel. They believed. It changed their life forever. They weren't just—they weren't just arguing, "Well, why can't I get away? This is what, as a pastor, I gotta love it, man. People go, 'Well, can you—how much do I drink? Why can't I smoke and still be okay?'" Come on, man. You lost. You lost. You're still trying to see how far you can get and make it to heaven. You ain't never met Jesus yet. I'm sorry that sounded horrible. I shouldn't have said it, but when you're falling in love with him, you're going, "Not what can I do and get away with and still be good, so what can I do? How can I be closer?" I'm not worried about just making it to heaven by the skin of my teeth. I'm going, "How can I be? What can I do to be closer?" Not what can I get away with.
So Thomas, here you go, Thomas. And Peter, James, and John, Andrew, Simon the Zealot, the rest of those ten boys, every one of them will end up on this earth being martyred except for John. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to encourage you, and I know most of you, and I get it. Some of y'all just playing, and I get it. You can get no judgment from me. Some of you may say, "I'm not quite ready." But follow Jesus. He has risen from the dead, and he has given us access to his heart. Watch out if you're a Pentecostal or a Charismatic and you just have the power. Oh, he's giving us the power. Yes, he has. I know that if I get his heart, I get the power. It's just a second-rate thing. Come on, y'all. Give your heart to Jesus.
Oh yeah, it's free, but he's going to cost you everything. It's free. He's not into behavior modification. It's free, but it's going to cost you to follow him. If you really follow him, he's risen from the dead. The tomb is empty to this day, 2000 and some odd years later. That tomb is empty. Hallelujah. And that tomb will never be inhabited by Jesus again. And his call is still, "Come unto me, all of you. Come unto me." The call has never changed.
Let's stand. I love that, don't y'all? I love that picture there. I love that he's risen. I love it. The place where death died. I like that. So today, if you're a follower of Jesus—and I would hope that everybody in this house is—but if you're a follower of Jesus, get a little closer, a step closer to him. You ain't got to figure it all out today. You ain't got to understand. All I want to do is, if you're a follower of Jesus already, step closer to him, further away from the world and the evil in this world, and closer to Jesus.
If you're away from God, listen now, if you're away from him today, if you've walked away and you've forgotten who you are, it's because you've forgotten who he is, the King of Kings. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. If you don't know him, if you're not where you should be today, I beg of you, I implore you, please give your heart to Jesus. Please. It's not worth it. Not knowing him may cost you something you don't want to pay. You may say, "I need to." I'll tell you something, he will empower you to do everything he's called you to do if you'll just remember who he is. He'll remind you of who he is, yes, but he'll also remind you of who he says you are.
I love that song they do. He'll remind you of what he says. I'd like everybody that would just repeat this with me this morning:
"Father God, I believe. I believe that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, and I believe that Jesus died indeed, but I believe that he rose from the dead." Hallelujah. Hallelujah. So receive me today, oh God, in Jesus' name.
on Mar 31, 2024
