All right, you're there in Matthew 27.
Turn to Matthew 21 real quickly, Matthew chapter 21, and the name of the sermon is Obstacles
to the Resurrection, Obstacles to the Resurrection, and we're going to look at three major obstacles
there were to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we're going to be in Matthew 27 for most
of the sermon.
That's why we read that really long chapter, so we'll get back there here in a little bit.
But in Matthew chapter 21, let me show you verse number 33, Matthew chapter 21 verse
33.
And the number one obstacle to the resurrection we're going to look at here today are religious
false prophets.
Religious false prophets are an obstacle, something that was trying to hinder the resurrection.
Now in the days of Jesus Christ, those were the Jews.
Now for us here in the Philippines, we have the same thing, we just don't have the Jews
as our religious false prophets, okay?
But everyone's going to have some religious false prophet.
Matthew 21 verse 33, here another parable, there was a certain householder which planted
a vineyard and hedged it round about and digged a winepress in it and built a tower and led
it out to husbandmen and went into a far country.
And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen that
they might receive the fruits of it.
And the husbandmen took his servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another.
Now this is a parable that's being spoken and what Jesus is actually doing is preaching
against the Jews in this parable, okay?
The servants are an example of basically prophets from the Old Testament where the servant would
come and they would basically destroy that servant, kill that servant.
Look at how they treated Jeremiah or Ezekiel or any of the prophets in the Old Testament.
Notice verse number 36, again he sent other servants more than the first and they did
onto them likewise.
So they beat them, they killed them, they stoned them.
Verse 37, but last of all he sent onto them his son saying, they will reverence my son.
Now that's obviously a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So he sends a bunch of servants and they beat them, they stoned them, they killed them and
that's throughout the Old Testament.
God sent prophets and what did God's people do to those prophets?
They beat them.
They stoned them.
They killed them.
They tortured them.
By and large they didn't receive them because the world is never going to receive this message.
By and large they will reject that message.
Christianity today represents one third of the world.
One third of people claim to be Christians approximately.
Depending on what you look at, 25 to 35 percent depending on what website you look at.
But that includes Catholicism and the Protestants and the Orthodox and every single denomination
under the sun.
And let me tell you something, anyone who gets up and preaches the message, the world
by and large, the Christian community will reject that message.
And that's what you saw in the Old Testament.
Prophets came, the message was rejected.
They will reverence my son, but when the husband men saw the son, they said among themselves,
this is the heir, come let us kill him and let us seize on his inheritance.
And they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him.
And what did they do to the Lord Jesus Christ when he was here?
Was he received?
No, he wasn't.
The Pharisees rejected him, the chief priests, the scribes, and most Jews rejected him because
most of them weren't believing in the true God.
They didn't believe on Jesus and they rejected him.
You say, well, how do you know that's what it's referring to?
Well, look at verse number 45, you say, I don't think that's what this parable is talking
about.
Verse 45, and when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, plural, so he spoke
multiple parables, referencing basically the same subject, they perceived, basically they
understood, they realized that he spake of them.
So what's the Bible saying?
When Jesus spoke this, the Pharisees and chief priests, they figured this out.
They realized, oh, he's actually preaching against us, okay?
But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude because they took
him for a profit.
Now, it's kind of funny because in the Bible itself, it says that they heard it and realized
he was speaking to them.
We have the whole Bible today, okay?
And yet most Baptist pastors haven't figured out that the Jews rejected Jesus Christ.
I really just don't get it because if you talk to Jews about Jesus, they will blaspheme
Jesus.
They'll reject him.
They'll say, he's not my savior.
He's not the Messiah.
He's a false, he's a phony.
I mean, they understood in Matthew 21 what he was talking about, but you talk to Baptists
today and they say, well, the Jews are God's chosen people.
In fact, you know, hey, it's an Easter service.
We'll bring a rabbi up here to just preach and deliver the message to you so you can
understand the timeframe of what was going on about how the Jews didn't really kill Jesus.
I mean, it's like they understood what he was talking about.
Turn to Matthew 23.
Look, the Bible itself is not confusing.
It's just people don't like the message of what the Bible says.
And so they make excuses, they change it, and they say, wow, this is what it actually
means.
No, I mean, it just means what it says it means.
And those that heard it wanted to kill Jesus because they realized, oh, it sounds like
he's talking about us because, look, I mean, Jews can't deny the fact that when you read
the Old Testament, by and large, they rejected the ones that were sent onto them.
They wanted to kill Moses.
Many times they wanted to kill Aaron and just going on and on, they rejected the message
and they wanted to kill them.
And so they realized this is talking about us.
Matthew 23 verse 29, woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because ye build
the tombs of the prophets and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous and say, if we
had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood
of the prophets.
So notice in verse 29, they build the tombs of the prophets, they garnish the sepulchres.
They make a big deal about basically, you know, respecting these great prophets from
the past.
And they say, if I lived during that time period, I wouldn't have crucified Jesus.
I would have loved his message.
If I lived during the days of Moses, I wouldn't have been murmuring in the wilderness.
I mean, if I lived during the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel and those other prophets, I wouldn't
have rejected the message.
But wait a minute.
I mean, and this is what people say today, right?
But this is what they're saying here and it says, if we had been in the days of our fathers,
we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Verse 31, wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves that ye are the children of them which killed
the prophets.
Fill ye up in the measure of your fathers, ye serpents, ye generation of vipers.
How can ye escape the damnation of hell?
And so according to Jesus, no, you would have been partakers of the blood.
And let me tell you something.
If Jesus was around today, he would be hated by the world and people would claim, we wouldn't
have tried to crucify you.
Yeah, I mean, cause you don't even know what he said because I'm preaching the same sorts
of messages that he preached 2000 years ago and all the prophets in the Old Testament,
they preach the same kind of message.
It's always been rejected by the world and unsaved people and the world and religious
false prophets, they will always persecute this message.
They will never accept this message.
They don't like this message.
Why?
Because they like to hear things that are of the world.
And when you speak the truth of what the Bible says, you know what?
It offends them because the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two
edged sword.
Their excuse in verse 30 is the same excuse people use today.
If we had lived during that time period, we wouldn't have crucified the prophets.
And that's the same thing that Christians would say today, isn't it?
But they would have done the exact same thing.
Why?
Even when we go soul winning, people hate our message when they reject it.
Now, by and large, people listen, but don't some people get really angry at the things
we have to say?
And quite honestly, people would visit a church like this and they like a lot of what's being
preached.
But then there's that one sermon they get really offended by.
And let me tell you something, that's the same thing thousands of years ago.
Verse 34.
Wherefore, behold, I send you on to prophets and wise men and scribes.
And some of them ye shall kill and crucify, including himself, right?
I mean, he was crucified.
And some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to
city, that upon you make him all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood
of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the
temple and the altar.
Basically the blood of everyone, okay?
That's what he's saying against these Jews, because they were crucifying and torturing
and persecuting everyone who preached the message of Jesus Christ.
Now look, in our country, the Jews have never been our big false prophet that we battle.
Okay?
The Catholic church worldwide was the big false prophet, but I want you to realize that
one of the obstacles to the resurrection were religious false prophets.
They're the ones who got Jesus crucified to begin with.
And look, our biggest enemy today, religious false prophets.
We're going to battle that, just like people have in all time periods.
Verse number 36, verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation.
You see, I still don't think this is referring to the Jews.
Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent
unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathers
her chickens under her wings, and ye would not, behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Look, there's no doubt he's referring to the Jews here.
He says Jerusalem or Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets.
But I want you to notice in the second half of verse 37, he says, how often would I have
gathered thy children together?
What he's saying is I was willing to give you another chance.
Yes, you killed some of the prophets, but he'd send another prophet to them.
And he gave them chance after chance, how often would I have gathered?
But what he's saying is, you know what, not anymore.
It's done because of the fact they didn't produce any fruit.
Remember he came to the fig tree and there was nothing on it.
It's like you're the ones who are supposed to produce the fruit.
The oracles of God were given to the Jews.
That doesn't mean they were the only ones that were saved, but the oracles of God, according
to Romans, were committed unto the Jews.
They heard the word of God.
They had the prophets and look, to whom much is given, much is required.
They heard the message of God.
They were expected to bring forth fruit and they didn't do it.
And he says, how often would I have gathered?
But what he's saying is not anymore.
And notice what it says in verse 38, behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Why?
Because what he said is ye would not.
He gave them an opportunity and they rejected it.
And he says, you know what?
Your house is left unto you desolate.
You're done.
No more chances.
Matthew 27.
Turn to Matthew 27 Look, there was no doubt during the time of
Jesus Christ, the Jews were the big enemies.
They're the ones who said, Let his blood be on us and upon our children.
That's what they said.
They wanted to take credit for the blood of Jesus.
It's like, well, if you try to just curse your family for generations, you know, I guess
I guess you did what you did.
Okay.
Matthew 27 verse one.
When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against
Jesus to put him to death.
And when they had bound him, they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate,
the governor.
So look, the big enemy of Jesus Christ were the religious false prophets.
They're the ones that wanted to put him to death.
Verse 17, verse 17, Therefore, when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them,
Whom will you that are released on you, Barabbas or Jesus, which is called Christ?
For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.
So look, Pontius Pilate's not a dumb person.
He's obviously a smart person, and he understands.
He realizes the reason why they're delivering Jesus to me to kill him is because they are
envious at Jesus Christ.
And look, they're envious of the fact that everyone's following Jesus Christ and listening
to his message, and they don't care what they have to say.
They thought they were such smart religious people, and now everyone's ignoring them because
Jesus has a better message and knows what he's talking about, and they're envious.
And so the religious false prophets, they want to put him to death.
Verse 19, When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent on to him, saying, Have
thou nothing to do with that just man?
For I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.
But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas
and destroy Jesus.
And so Pontius Pilate was warned by his wife.
Do not do anything to this just man.
Okay, now, look, I understand husbands are the head of their households, okay?
But you know, sometimes you should listen to your wife and look when your wife says,
You know what?
I just had a dream, okay, that do not kill this guy.
And then he just does not listen.
Okay.
And he just it's like, Man, you are so bobo.
I don't care how well you do in a calculus test, Pontius Pilate.
That is dumb.
Okay.
And you know, he just doesn't listen to her message.
Okay.
And so verse number 21, The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will
ye that I release unto you?
They said, Barabbas, Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus, which is
called Christ?
They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.
And the governor said, Why?
What evil hath he done?
But they cried out the more saying, Let him be crucified.
Look, Pilate does not want to put Jesus to death, because for one, he knows he's innocent.
But don't think that Pilate's a good guy.
He still is responsible for putting him to death because, you know, a long time ago,
I saw that document, not documentary, that Passion of the Christ, that Mel Gibson movie
that came out when I was in college.
I remember I watched it, you know, one time.
I think it was either right after I got saved or right before I got saved.
But I didn't know much about the Bible.
So I was like, Oh, this is such a great movie.
And then I saw, like, six months later, I was like, This is like the worst movie I've
ever seen.
It's just so fake.
But in that movie, like, Pontius Pilate's like a good guy.
Okay, look, Pontius Pilate's not a good guy.
He knows Jesus is innocent, and he still decides to put him to death because he's worried about
what people think.
And he's saying, you know, what evil hath he done?
And so Pilate thinks he's smart enough to kind of get out of the situation, but he's
wrong, and he ends up getting put in a rock and a hard place, and he has to make a choice.
Why?
Because the religious false prophets hated Jesus Christ.
Those were the big enemies of Jesus.
Verse 62.
Look, no doubt the Romans persecuted and killed the Christians.
But look, when we're reading the New Testament, you cannot deny it's the Jews that are the
number one biggest enemy of Christianity.
It's not the Romans, okay?
No doubt that we preach sermons on the Catholic Church and how that came from the Roman Empire,
and they killed and crucified Christians.
No doubt about that.
But let me tell you something.
The Jews were the number one biggest enemies because of the fact the Romans were a political
enemy, but the Jews were religious enemies.
And our biggest enemy are going to be religious false prophets that hate our message.
Matthew 27, verse 62.
Now the next day that followed the day of preparation, the preparation, the chief priests
and Pharisees came together onto Pilate saying, sir, we remember that that deceiver said while
he was yet alive, after three days, I will rise again.
Okay.
Now I want you to realize when somebody says, I remember or we remember what they are implying
is, I forgot, right?
If you say, I remember what you're saying is not Kalimutanko, right?
I forgot.
That's what they're saying.
So basically they're saying, you know, whoops, we forgot to tell you, Pilate, he's going
to rise again from the dead.
We just happen to forget.
Okay.
And in verse 63, very funny, to be honest, because they're calling Jesus a deceiver.
They're calling Jesus a liar.
And then they say, oh, whoops, I forgot to tell you that Jesus, I forgot that Jesus is
going to rise again from the dead.
It's like, you're lying.
Okay.
You're calling Jesus a deceiver.
And in the same verse, you're a liar.
Oh, whoops, we forgot to tell you that he's going to rise again from the dead.
I think Pilate might've changed his mind if he heard that, honestly, and you know, there's
a reason why they didn't tell him because they wanted to make sure Pilate went through
with it.
We forgot.
Okay.
So we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, after three days, I'll rise
again.
Verse 64, command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest his
disciples come by night and steal him away and say unto the people, he is risen from
the dead.
So the last error shall be worse than the first.
The last error shall be worse than the first.
That means you're admitting, oh, whoops, we made a mistake.
We did something wrong.
We sinned.
We messed up.
The last error is going to be worse than the first.
We're sorry, Pilate.
We forgot to tell you that he was going to rise again from the dead.
Maybe you shouldn't have crucified him, but you know what?
We can't make the last error worse than the first.
And so one obstacle, one enemy to the resurrection is the Jews because they're saying, make sure
that he doesn't rise again from the dead.
That's the number one obstacle to the resurrection are the religious false prophets.
And look, in today's world, the religious false prophets are going to be our obstacles
as well.
They're going to be the ones that try to turn us in and get us in trouble.
It's the religious false prophets, okay?
Go back to verse number 11, verse number 11.
So the number one obstacle to the resurrection are the religious false prophets.
But the number two obstacle is basically the political opposition or the Romans in this
situation.
Okay?
So you have religious false prophets, but you also have a political opposition.
Matthew 27, verse 11.
And Jesus stood before the governor and the governor asked him saying, art thou the king
of the Jews?
And Jesus said unto him, thou sayest.
And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing, then said
Pilate unto him, hearest thou not how many things they witnessed against thee?
And he answered to him, never a word in so much the governor marveled greatly.
And so the reason why this whole thing started was because of the religious false prophets,
okay?
And look, the reality is when it comes to sermons we preach, it's usually religious
people that get upset about it.
It's usually the religious people that stir the pot.
It's usually these priests or pastors with their call or turn around backwards that get
mad at us, okay?
They're usually the ones that start the situation and then it ends up going to a political battle.
It starts as a religious battle and then it becomes a political battle and that's what
you see here, okay?
Turn to John chapter 19, John 19.
This is the way it works in the world today, you know, I think a lot of us watched that
documentary that just came out, it's very entertaining, Deported, that just came out.
And I want you to realize the message that's being rejected, it's being rejected in countries
because of religious people.
And religious people get angry and they complain and then they bring it to the political people
and the political people back them.
But it starts with the religious false prophets.
Look, our biggest enemy are the religious false prophets.
They're the ones that get really mad at what we have to say.
The average person out there that's not all that religious, they don't really care that
much.
But it's the religious people that claim to be Christian that say, how dare you preach
a hate message?
How dare you call yourself a pastor?
I don't call myself a pastor.
How dare you call yourself an evangelist?
I usually just call myself brother.
So how dare you say you're a Christian and then defame the name of Jesus by preaching
hate?
And look, they're the same people that claim we wouldn't have killed the prophets if we
lived during that time period.
But they do the exact same thing you can tell by their anger at the message of the word
of God.
Matthew 19 verse 10, then sayeth Pilate unto him, speakest thou not unto me?
Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee and have power to release thee?
And Pilate says, you know what, how dare you not answer my words?
We're going to John 19 because Matthew 27 doesn't go in as much detail in this section.
And as this story goes on, Pilate's talking to Jesus and we saw in Matthew 27 that Jesus
doesn't say anything.
Okay.
He doesn't respond.
Okay.
So in John verse 10 here in Matthew, in John 19, John 19 verse 10, he says, I'm the one
who has the power to basically crucify you or to release you.
Verse 11, Jesus answered, thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were
given thee from above.
Therefore he that delivered me onto thee hath the greater sin.
Look, I want you to realize most people, if they were in this sort of situation, wouldn't
respond like Jesus.
Most people would be begging for mercy from Pilate.
Okay.
Now Jesus understands that he is going to be crucified and this is the end of him.
But look, you know, I'm sure Pilate's looking at this situation and he's like, never a man
spake like this to me.
Most people were on their knees saying, please don't kill me, Pilate.
And Jesus says, the only reason why you have power is because God gave it to you basically.
And he doesn't, I mean, that sort of response, I'm sure Pilate's saying, you know, man, because
Pilate is used to being the one in the powerful position.
For example, you know, you go to an office and I don't know, this is like how it is in
the US and the boss always has like a taller chair because it kind of puts him in authority.
You're looking up to the boss.
Okay.
And so like if somebody gets fired, they get fired like in a small chair because they're
looking up and it makes you kind of intimidated naturally.
That's just kind of the way it works.
Okay.
And so what you see here in John chapter 19 is basically Pilate is used to being in the
powerful top position and then Jesus's response, basically Pilate's thinking, what in the world?
Nobody responds like that to me.
Verse 12, and from thenceforth, Pilate sought to release him.
Okay.
So Pilate's saying that, Pilate, he doesn't believe on Jesus, but he's worried he might
be right.
He's worried that Jesus was sent from God because he doesn't believe Jesus is guilty.
He knew the Jews delivered him due to envy.
And look, I'm sure Pilate was a very educated person.
This is not someone who's dumb.
You don't get into that position by being someone who's stupid.
I'm sure he was very knowledgeable.
He was educated about the past.
I'm sure he knew a lot about the history of the Jews and their religion.
And I'm sure in his mind, he's thinking, yeah, this is kind of similar to all those other
stories where they were crucifying.
I'm sure he was aware about this stuff.
And so he says, you know, he sought to release him, but the Jews cried out saying, if this,
if thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend.
Whosoever makes himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
And so Pilate's in a situation where he says, you know what, I'm going to either be speaking
against God or against Caesar.
He's like, I don't know what to do.
You know, this exact same position happens all the time with countries and politics.
You know what side they always pick?
They pick Caesar's side.
All of the time, they know that this is not right what you're doing because of the fact
he's speaking in the name of God.
You're arresting them.
You're taking away rights, but they will always side with Caesar.
That's what we see in the world today.
That's what we saw in that documentary.
That is what exists.
They will always side with Caesar due to pressure.
This is always what happens.
Okay.
Turn back to Matthew 27, Matthew 27.
So by and large, I mean, when it comes to political opposition, it's not like they're
usually trying to bring that fight to us.
Usually it's the religious false prophets that are doing it, but then it gets passed
into the political oppression and they will always side with Caesar against us.
That's just the way it works.
Matthew 27, verse 19, when he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sinned onto
him saying, have thou nothing to do with that just man, for I've suffered many things this
day in a dream because of him.
Go down to verse 24.
So Pilate does seek to try to release Jesus.
He tries to get him out of the situation and he's not successful.
He fails.
Verse 24, when Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but rather a tumult was made, he
took water and washed his hands before the multitude saying, I am innocent of the blood
of this just person.
See to it.
And so Pilate realizes if I try to get him released, basically people are going to be
mad at me.
I'm going to get in trouble.
And so he says, you know what?
I'll just say, how about you take responsibility and I'm innocent if I wash my hands.
Okay.
Look, it doesn't matter that the Jews said, you know, okay, you're innocent.
He's still guilty.
Okay.
So Pilate says in verse 25, then answered all the people and said, his blood be on us
and on our children.
Look, if somebody asked you to kill someone and then you say, well, wait a minute, just
agree that she'll take the blame for it.
Let me wash my hands and you'll say, yeah, you know, we'll take that blood.
You're still guilty when you pull the trigger.
I mean, Pilate can sit here and say, you know what?
You take responsibility for it.
That doesn't change the fact that you were in a position to release Jesus Christ and
you chose not to.
You say, why?
Because Pilate's not a just guy.
He's not a good guy.
And look, I don't believe he was a reprobate in this story.
Now, I think he probably became a reprobate because he's kind of making his choice and
there's no turning back from that.
But I don't think Pilate was a reprobate when this thing started.
I mean, I could be wrong.
But I mean, Pilate knows that Jesus is innocent, but he's not willing when he's in that position
to say, you know what?
I'm going to do what's right.
And look, by and large in this world, most people are not willing to do what's right.
People that are in a powerful position, people that are in politics that are way up there
they run into these situations all the time, but they will not do what's right.
Why?
They want to protect their job.
They want to protect their money.
They don't care about what's right and what's wrong.
And so the Jews said, you know what?
His blood be on us and on our children.
And the Jews said, you know what?
Let this blood be passed upon our children.
Now, look, obviously Jews can still get saved today.
They could get saved back then as well if they didn't become a reprobate.
But I want you to tell you that when you think of one religion that hates Jesus Christ, it's
the Jews.
There's not even really a comparison.
I mean, the Jews hate Jesus a lot more than atheists do.
I mean, they hate Jesus.
And look, I've gone soul winning and I've run into Jews at the door.
You don't really run into, I've never run into them here, but I've run into Jews going
soul winning before.
And when they answer the door, they are so arrogant.
They hate the message of Jesus.
They have this smug look on their face and sometimes they smile and say, I'm a Jew.
Kind of like, well, I'm one of God's chosen is what they're saying.
It's like, I get a free pass into heaven.
And you know, the reason why they feel that way is because Christians are telling them
that.
And so when you come to their door, it's like, man, I don't need to believe on Jesus.
I'm a Jew, right?
I'm good to go already.
And they have this arrogant, smug attitude.
Okay.
Matthew 27 verse 64, verse 64, Matthew 27 verse 64.
And we'll pick up where we left earlier when it came to the Jews basically trying to make
sure that Jesus does not rise again.
Verse 64, command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his
disciples come by night and steal him away and say unto the people, he is risen from
the dead.
So the last error shall be worse than the first.
Here the Jews are telling Pilate, hey, command and make sure he does not rise again from
the dead.
Basically, if he rises again from the dead, it's not going to be good for us.
It's not going to be good for you, Pilate.
We got to be on the same team here.
Make sure that you use your power.
It's like we made an error.
We killed him.
I'm sorry that we convinced you to kill him, but it's done.
What's done is done.
But the last error is going to be worse than the first.
Make sure he doesn't rise again from the dead.
You see the religious opposition, but you know what happens in this world?
The religious opposition brings it to the political realm and the political realm backs
this false religious opposition always because verse 65, Pilate said unto them, ye have a
watch, go your way, make it as sure as ye can.
I'm on your side, Pilate saying, make sure he does not rise again from the dead.
Pilate joins the religious false prophets against Jesus Christ.
Now look at the beginning of this chapter, you would not read this chapter and think
that Pilate is a reprobate.
Okay.
Now maybe he is, but I don't see any indication that he was the beginning of this chapter.
He knows Jesus is innocent and he's thinking about what to do.
His wife's trying to convince him, hey, don't put him to death.
And he's trying to get Jesus released, but eventually he chooses to take the easy road
out and have Jesus killed.
He doesn't want to side against Caesar.
And afterwards he's trying to cover up for his mistake and he says, make it as sure as
he can.
So it starts with a religious opposition, a religious obstacle to the resurrection.
Then it becomes a political obstacle to the resurrection.
Verse 66, verse 66.
So we see the religious obstacle to the resurrection and we see the political obstacle and realize
this, we're going to deal with these obstacles also.
We deal with the religious obstacles and quite frankly, sometimes you have to deal with political
obstacles as well.
Okay.
Now the Bible says to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves, so you don't intentionally
bring the fight to them.
And we don't do that at our church.
We don't try to bring the fight to them.
And there's no real indication to me that Jesus is trying to bring the fight to them.
They're bringing the fight to him and that's the same way it's going to work for us.
We're not on a mission to try to take over the government, take over politics and fight
the government on everything we disagree with.
It's a foolish battle because we won't win.
You're not going to win the battle when they're the ones who enforce the laws.
They make the laws, they enforce the laws.
And so if you disagree, you just go along with what they say pretty much.
Okay.
You don't have to sin.
Okay.
Verse 66.
So first we see a religious opposition, then we see a political opposition.
Lastly, we see a physical opposition.
Notice what it says in Matthew 27 verse 66.
So they went and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch.
And so they seal the stone, try to seal it shut so there's no way that Jesus can rise
again from the dead.
And look, if he's the son of God, that's not going to stop him.
Okay.
It's like, Pilate, think about this, Pilate, you were worried that he was a savior.
You can make it as sure as you want.
You can guard it with 5 million people.
Okay.
It doesn't matter what you do.
You can't make it sure enough to stop him from rising again from the dead.
Because if he really is the savior, that's not going to stop him.
Okay.
Turn to Matthew 28, Matthew 28, verse number one, Matthew 28 verse one.
The Bible speaks about people that deny the power of God.
And unsaved people, they don't understand the power of God.
It's like, think about this, Pilate.
If he said he's going to rise again from the dead, he's powerful enough to rise again from
the dead.
Okay.
You're not going to be able to stop him, but somehow they think that we can just send in
this army to prevent him and make sure he's not going to rise again from the dead.
Look, you can seal that stone, you can do whatever you want, he's still going to rise
again from the dead.
Matthew 28, verse one, in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of
the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.
And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven
and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it.
Verse three, his countenance was like lightning and his raiment white as snow.
And for fear of him, the keepers did shake and become as dead men.
And so look, the earthquake comes and it's really that simple.
Like God, it's not a battle.
Didn't Jesus rise again from the dead?
When we say an obstacle to the resurrection, this is a really small obstacle in the eyes
of God.
Right?
I mean, this is not going to stop him.
I mean, the keepers are there and they're like shaking.
They're not shaking because of the earthquake.
They're shaking because they're afraid.
They're shaking due to the earthquake and now they're shaking because they're afraid.
They can't stop this.
Verse five, and the angel answered and said unto the women, fear not ye, for I know that
ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
He is not here for he is risen.
As he said, come see the place where the Lord lay.
So they say, Jesus rose again.
Verse seven, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead and behold,
he goeth before you into Galilee.
There shall you see him, lo, I have told you.
And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy and did run to bring
his disciples word.
So what we saw first was we saw religious false prophets, religious opposition, religious
obstacle.
Then there's a political obstacle and there's also a physical obstacle.
Now let me say this before I kind of go into kind of the conclusion about this.
You know, sometimes there's these movies or books or whatever.
It's like the forces of good versus the forces of bad or whatever.
And sometimes they're kind of religious theme movies like the Chronicles of Narnia or the
Lord of the Rings, things like that.
Or you can look at Harry Potter and Star Wars aren't like religiously theme, but the same
sort of thing.
Good versus bad.
Look, whenever you have those movies, they got to make it entertaining.
So it's like the good versus bad is like a close battle.
It's not a close battle when it comes to God versus the devil.
This is not like, well, God versus the devil.
It's like, man, we hope God's going to win this battle.
We could find out one day we're wrong and we're reading the book of Revelation and the
devil turns the table and wins them.
It's not a close battle whatsoever.
Okay.
And so, look, if God allows us to go through trials and tribulations, that's his choice
because he can end it like this if he wants to.
But if he allows us to go through trials and persecutions and tribulations, that's his
choice.
He could give you a million dollars tomorrow if he wanted to.
Okay.
I mean, he can do whatever he wants.
He can give you a new job tomorrow.
Now obviously he probably doesn't want to give you a million dollars because you make
a million dollars, you'll probably quit the church and just ruin your life.
Okay.
But just realize that when it comes to God's power, he has all power.
And that's what it says at the end of Matthew 28, verse 18, Matthew 28.
So Jesus overcame three obstacles, religious, political, and physical.
And then it says in verse 18, and Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power, not
some power, all power is given onto me in heaven and in earth.
All power is given onto me in heaven and in earth.
Okay.
Now we realize that Satan is the God of this world and God does allow Satan to basically
have his minions and cause problems.
We're going through the book of Revelation right now and starting this Wednesday, we're
going to have the seals being released.
We're going to go through the beginning of sorrows.
And I want you to realize God is allowing that to happen because if he wanted to, he
could stop it immediately.
But God's method is the fact that we will go through persecutions.
We will go through trials.
And look, Jesus overcame obstacles to rise again.
And guess what?
He expects us to go through obstacles in our lives as well.
He fought the religious obstacles, the religious false prophets.
We're going to fight religious false prophets.
As a church, it's going to happen.
One of these days, I mean, again, we'll offend some church out there that gets mad at something
I say, and it doesn't matter how much I sugar coat the message or try not to offend.
They're going to get offended by something I say.
Okay.
We're going to have the religious false prophets fight against us.
And, you know, we hope not, but, you know, one day we might have a political opposition.
That does take place.
And, you know, we will have physical obstacles in our lives, usually caused by those two
oppositions.
Okay.
Verse 19.
All power is given to Jesus.
What does that mean to us?
Well, go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've
commanded you and lo, I'm with you always, even on to the end of the world.
Amen.
And so this is a message of soul winning at the end of Matthew 28, same message at the
end of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the beginning of Acts, the final message he gives, and it's
in different locations is go soul winning, go soul winning, go soul winning.
Look, when it comes to Jesus rising again, every single person in this country knows
Jesus rose again, and most believe it, but they're not saved because they don't understand
what salvation is, okay?
And what God told us was teach all nations, okay?
Now obviously he wasn't telling those small group of people to teach every single nation
individually.
What he's saying is basically everyone goes soul winning in their area, they build up
those churches, they have a goal to start new churches, and you spread out from there.
You get people saved, then you baptize converts, and you teach them to observe all things.
All of those things are important.
Look, we're not a church that's only going to preach on soul winning.
Why?
Because we need to make changes in our lives, okay?
So Jesus rose again, and the message he gives us, knowing all power is given unto him in
heaven and in earth, the command he gives us is go ye therefore.
Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost.
Realize though, we're going to deal with the religious obstacles.
We're going to deal with political obstacles, we're going to deal with physical obstacles.
That could mean old friends, and family, or whatever.
We will deal with obstacles just like Jesus did.
Let's close with a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today, and I ask you to just
help us apply this to our lives, and help us to be thankful, and remember your resurrection
during this time of year, even though it doesn't necessarily feel as much like Easter as maybe
it has in other years past God, and help us just remember your final message to us.
Understanding you rose again, and all power is given on you.
You command us to go and preach the gospel, and we need to understand we will deal with
obstacles in our lives when we're doing something for you God, but help us remember all these
things in Jesus' name.
Amen.