To Be Crucified With Jesus

Matthew 27:11-54 Crucifixion week. Jesus came to earth for us, to be nailed to the cross to die and be buried. We offer this worship in remembrance of what He did for us. Shall I describe today’s worship as important or special? It is to be both, but as we live our lives here on earth are we walking in our faith because we desire to receive something from it or because we desire something that we are unable to acquire on our own? As we remember the suffering that Jesus endured and as we offer this worship in remembrance of that fact may we look upon ourselves and examine my relationship with Jesus so that it may be the right relationship of faith? During the prayer the pastor prayed that we have all come out wearing black to remember the death of Jesus. What does the color black represent? It represents death. Whose death does it represent? We wear it to represent the death of Jesus but the truth is, as we see in all the Bible, unless I also participate in death by dying along with Him, then my faith is in vain. In order to not have faith that is in vain, you must have true faith, but what kind of faith is that? The black clothes that I wear today are not a symbol of the death of Jesus but it must represent my death then my relationship with Jesus will stand right with Him. In truth that is the whole sermon. This is the conclusion. Unless I too crucify myself on the cross as did Jesus, there is no reason to remember His death, because my life of faith is invalid. We read the entire passage from Matthew 27:15-54. Everything has been explained. What else is there to say when everything has been explained and we know all these things? But as I have said the conclusion of the matter is that tonight the black clothes that you wear in remembrance of the death of Jesus, must also represent that you too have also died with Him so that your relationship will be right with Him. What is the result? Unless you are willing to die do not assume you are following Jesus. You do not believe. The wife of Pilate, many people who followed Him, those who were crucified with Him were are witnesses of Jesus. As we were in prayer today I asked myself why is it that Jesus needed to be crucified between two criminals? They could have crucified Jesus alone or had Him off to one side, but why in the middle of the two criminals? It is to represent the dying for of sinners. I must confess that I am a sinner and look to the cross of our Lord in order to have a connection to Him. Without this, it is useless to cry to God. Jesus died on the cross to forgive the sin of the sinners. The Bible records that it is Adam’s original sin through which our spirit’s were severed from God, but reconciled through Jesus for which He came. He came amongst sinners. He came, but as we look at Luke, we see that there are two types if sinners. One who confesses that Jesus is Lord and one who does not believe in Him. We are sinners who believe in Jesus and His kingdom and that is why we come out here to worship Him today. We are the same as the people in the world. No matter how much we try to show a difference we are the same. The only difference is when we come before they do not confess their sins and those of us who believe admit to our sins. That is the difference. When we confess our death on the cross with Jesus, then our lives must change. Our lives must be different from that of the people of this world in purpose and direction. Our purpose in making money is different. Whether in pursuing health, attaining a position, whatever it may be in this world our purpose for attaining these things are different. This is why the life of a Christian is different. The purpose is different but what about the method? It is in the way that Jesus Christ teaches us to live which is to be the method of achieving our purpose. The way of the world does not concern themselves with the method as long as they achieve their goal, but Christians are to concern themselves with the manner in which we fulfill our purpose. According to which standard? The standard of the Bible? The standard and manner in which Jesus Christ shows us. This is the way we are to live our lives as Christians. I went a little off track. I wanted to share with you about insurance. Each of you have your own thoughts about insurance. Why do we have insurance? Simply it is so that we do not suffer a loss. Whether it is auto, home, or life insurance. There are many types of insurance. Recently I came to understand that not everything in covered. We have always called the insurance company when things were broken and they always fixed it. But our washing machine was broken so when we called them they refused to fix it. The reason was that they told us that we had overused the machine in a manner for which it was not intended and that they would not fix it for us until we gave them a receipt for a new machine showing them it was no longer the old machine. Does this make sense? It was a machine that we had used for over 10 years and there is no way to prevent it from breaking down, but saying that we had overworked the machine was reason for them to not pay for a new one or fix it. They refused to answer any call pertaining to this machine. So now when I watch the ads or insurance I understand that there are details and conditions that follow every situation. In car insurance there are various types of coverages and prices. I want to emphasize that what I am wanting you to understand is that just because you have insurance does not mean that you are covered. In business we make decisions based on the person and make deals. But because you had nothing in writing you may be taken advantage of. There is no proof. You have nothing signed. You had trusted someone who you should not have put your trust into and you have been taken advantage of. You purchased insurance and now you want to use but you do not know the conditions to which you are able to do so. You cannot use the insurance because the conditions are not met. Then what use is it to have that insurance? It is useless. I want to relate this to our faith. As a Christian I have insurance in our faith in Jesus. What kind of insurance? Insurance of Heaven. I have insurance of Heaven because I believe in Jesus. I say that I have gone to church since my mother’s womb, and am a pastor, elder, deacon in the church. But though you say you have insurance how can you use it? Not only do you have to meet the conditions of it but you also have to sign it. Like being baptized and confessing your faith you have to sign your name on it to make it binding. Is that it? You also have to make payments for it or else you insurance will be cancelled. Faith is the same. Unless I live my life according to the Word making payments in obedience in all situations then my Heavenly insurance will be cancelled. An unpaid bill cancels your contract. Unless like Paul I die daily in my life of faith, if there is no sweat in honoring my allegiance to God, my faith becomes invalid. Though I know that Jesus came to this earth to die for me but I must accept that this has been done for me so that I may make the the payment of that belief with my life. Without this there is no victory in faith. It does not matter that you know a famous insurance agent, meaning a good pastor who gives great sermons about Jesus, because unless you pay with your own life your contract is invalid. No matter how big the church may be, or how much power the preacher may have, unless I live a life of victory and pay with my life the deal is off. When we get to Heaven the Lord will tell us, as did Paul tell us that a race must be run by the rules and there is only one winner. A competitor that has competed outside of the rules is disqualified. Our Lord says though we may call to Him Lord, Lord, no matter what you may have done for Him, unless you have done it according to His Bible, then everything that you have done no matter how great and powerful will not be credited to you. You will be disqualified. Can you then enter into Heaven? You cannot. It is no use to bring a contract that is invalid because you will not be paid. There is nothing for you to receive. The cross of Jesus Christ, His death, it must be made yours through a life that is lived by faith so that you can thus change. But we think that in our present state we are good enough. We ask “what have we done wrong?” We are stuck here and this is why we do not change. We are stuck in our attitude of good enough which is the reason why we are unable to live a life of power in Jesus Christ. We do not change. There is none who is good before God. Whether the pastor or the young child we are all sinners. But why is it that you think that you are not a sinner? This is where the problem is. We all point the finger and blame someone else. But what do even the people of this world say? When you point the finger look at how many are pointing back at you. One is aimed at the other person but three are aimed at you. We refuse to look at ourselves. Everyone says to look at yourself first. But we keep blaming others. “It is your fault” we say. It is not. When we are able to see our sins then we no longer look at the faults of others. Why do I hate that person? It is because deep inside my heart I have hate that has grown. It is not because that person has done anything, it is because hate has grown in my heart and that hate is now directed to that person. If the heart of Jesus grows within me, then because I have His heart I am able to live His life. But do we not fail to live like this? The life of the flesh and the life of the spirit is in war against each other daily. There is never a moment when it is easy. You may have just had a spiritual experience and had visions of Heaven and Hell, and the moment you are done praying and say “amen” you open your eyes and see the person you dislike the most, then what use it is that you just had a great spiritual experience when your heart is now filled with hate? The moment you close the door to your heart the spiritual blessing you just had means nothing. Will you go to Heaven? You will go to Hell. Why? You were shown all good things so that you would humble yourself before God, but instead you close the door to your heart because of the person in front of you whom you hate. You choose to live the life of a sinner. But you use the excuse that it is their fault that you hate them. If we say that we are participating in the crucifixion of Jesus then I am the one who must die. I must change. Before I look at the faults of others I must look at myself first and see my faults and be able to embrace others with the love of Jesus. This must come from me so that I can make the payments of the Heavenly insurance daily. I must live this life so that when there is a trouble, I can call my agent in Heaven, and say that everyday I have made payments through the life I lived in the situations where I was called to do so and lived a life of death, and today I have this problem, and I am asking you to compensate for it. Would they not pay you? You can receive payment. Why? Because I have confidently taken up Heavenly insurance and confidently and assuredly made daily payments through the life I lived, and that is why I can as a Christian receive the payment that I seek. Jesus came for us 2000 years ago so that we can live this life by dying on the cross and be buried for us on this day. When we remember these events, we realize that there are many times in our lives that we regret things the moment words leave our mouths. As we confess our sins and change, as 10 becomes 9 and 9 becomes 8 and as we lessen the sins as we live holy lives so that God the Father will acknowledge us as having lived our lives as Jesus. It does not matter that no one on this earth knows me. When I see my neighbors because I have difficulty communicating with them I am not known by them except that I live next to them. But still I can still live here without any uneasy feeling because this is my house. I can live here with confidence. Though I am not known by any Korean or American, but as a child of God I live confidently according to His will, then I can live confidently on this planet during my time here. You are confident when you live according to the Word. But if you are living a life where people are calling you a hypocrite then you cannot live confidently. When Jesus went to bear the cross, we have been shown that in may depictions His face was downcast and shall we say burdened? But there was an artist whom the Lord spoke to saying “Look carefully at my face.” “I came to earth and accomplished everything that I have been given and lived a perfect life in victory. Therefore when I carried the cross to Golgotha I did so with a smile on my face.” This person testified that this is what the Lord had told him. I do not know about you, but what I heard and understood is that though we may be going on a path of suffering let us do so with a smile. Then we can be victorious. Do not complain. We know that complaining comes form the devil. Yet we still complain. Then recognize that you have fallen down, admit it and quickly stand back up. Do not regret. Do not get angry. You must see that in those moments you have been tricked by the devil. Jesus Christ lived a life of victory for me. If we are following Him in this path of victory which is the path to Golgotha, then though everything may seem as failure and seem without fruit, the path we go with in Jesus is a path where everything has already been done and it can be a path we go with a smile on our faces. I am asking that this is the path that you will choose to follow. You must make this decision to be victorious. This is the life that will pay you when you decide to use your Heavenly insurance. This week, as we remember the suffering of Jesus, let us examine our lives and the relationship we have with Him, and truly see with our eyes that we are sinners so that we can truly confess that our Lord did die for me. And when that confession comes from our mouths may we live a life that exemplifies that belief by following our Lord. May you truly meet the Lord in His terms and live the life the proper way and participate in the crucifixion, not only in remembrance of His death, but as a turning point where tonight I too have died. Sermon bt Pastor Howard Park Translated by Miguel Park