The Healing Word

Guest (Male): The Healing Word Ministry on One Place is brought to you by the generous donations of people like you. At any time during today's message, feel free to send a prayer request or make a donation using the link provided. Now, I pray you will be blessed as Pastor Jack Morris delivers a message from the Word of God that will encourage and strengthen your faith in Him.

Pastor Jack Morris: Look at Jesus. Look at the sacrifice. Look at this table. That is love. You think, "How do I know if I truly love?" Because of your sacrifice. Love always sacrifices.

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Healing Word, a radio ministry of the Largo Community Church. Here is Pastor Jack Morris with today's message that will grow your faith in God and lead you to a closer walk with Jesus.

Pastor Jack Morris: A number of years ago, Caren and I were in a third-world country in Asia, and a number of ministers from America and one from another country gathered in a small village to talk to the people about the Lord Jesus, to try to strengthen the pastors and the churches of that small village. It seemed like very few people were going into this area of this country, particularly to that particular village.

So we went there, and the people lived in poverty. They just barely had enough to eat and clothes to wear, and the government was harassing the people. A week after we left, on CNN on the television, we were right back here at home. Tanks were rolling down the streets that we walked on just a week before, bringing the people into subjection.

We scattered, the pastors did, to the various churches and preached to various churches on Sunday. Then we all came together for a time of fellowship, and the missionaries who had come from the outside formed a panel so the people could direct questions to us.

This one particular missionary from America, who lives in America and would go over on occasion, we all suspected that he was born with a gold spoon in his mouth. Not just a spoon, but a gold spoon. He was born in the lap of luxury, and he was a very fine man, really honest, a man of integrity, but we knew he had come from a wealthy family. One of the pastors directed a question right at him and asked, "What hardship have you experienced in your life?"

Well, he paused. He moved his head a few times. He smiled almost embarrassingly, and he said, "I don't think I've ever experienced any hardship in my life." Here were these people, these dear people trying to identify or get us to identify with them and them with us. How could we identify with each other if we hadn't gone through some of the same experiences that they had gone through?

John Stott, who wrote a tremendous book entitled *The Cross of Christ*, he is in heaven now, and this is what John Stott said. John Stott says, "I could never myself believe in God if it were not for the cross. In the real world of pain, how could we worship a God who was immune to it?"

God came into this world in the person of Jesus Christ to experience every pain, every difficulty, every hardship so that when you and I pray, He can identify. He knows where we are. He knows what we're going through. He knows what we're experiencing. He can identify. Yes, He experienced hardship like we've never and never will experience. God suffered in Jesus.

The scripture says in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Jesus is the Word of God, and Jesus came and went through suffering that is beyond words to describe. His suffering made possible our salvation. I need to say that one again. His suffering made possible our salvation. You and I wouldn't be here today, there would be no Largo Community Church, there would be no church anywhere, if Jesus hadn't suffered. And He suffered for us. This amazes me, it perplexes me.

I look at this hymn. Would you like to open your hymn book? I'm not going to ask you to sing it, but look at these words, number 185. "When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss." Anything I've gained in this world is absolutely nothing compared to what He has given me.

Look at verse two. "Forbid it, Lord. God, don't let it happen. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God." Look at verse three. "See, come on, look at it. Consider it. Ponder it. See from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e'er such love and sorrow meet?"

"Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all." That's exactly what He gave: His soul, His life, His all. But I'm going to hasten now to get to the place where Jesus experienced His passion to the greatest degree.

Only hours before He died. Now, all His life, all His adult life long, He was harassed and pursued. They tried to kill Him. They misunderstood Him. They abused Him all His life long, but nothing in comparison to what happened the night He was arrested. He was arrested. He was charged. He was taken to the judgment hall. People were literally paid money to come in there and tell lies on Him.

Then the judge rendered a verdict, and then sentence was pronounced: death. He was handcuffed or tied up, handed over to the Roman soldiers to take Him to Calvary. But everybody knew the soldiers were going to have some sport time before they went to Calvary. They got drunk in their barracks and they took Him down, and every unimaginable, immoral thing that they could think of, they did to Him.

I can't put it together in my mind. It amazes me, the God of glory accepting and receiving and never opening His mouth in one statement of complaint. He could have called 10,000 angels to wipe them off the face of the earth, and I wonder why. God, why didn't You do it? Why did You let them do that to You?

The only thing I can think of: you and me. That's the only reason. He loved us so much. They beat Him, they spit on Him, they pulled His beard, they put a crown of thorns and beat it down with a reed. They blindfolded Him, they would hit Him in the face and say, "Now prophesy, tell the name of the person who just hit you."

They put a purple robe on Him, and then when they were finished, they put a cross on Him and took Him to Calvary. They got Him to Calvary, they put the cross down on the ground, they stripped Him completely and put Him on His back, and then they nailed His hands and His feet. This is the God of glory, my Savior, your Savior. We're going to come to the altar table in a moment and we're going to remember. I pray we'll remember like we've never remembered before what Jesus experienced for us.

Who was really responsible? Well, there were some historic people responsible, two groups mainly: the Jewish leaders were responsible and the Romans were responsible. The Jewish leaders didn't like Jesus because Jesus got on their turf, their teaching turf.

You see, they took the Ten Commandments and then they added law upon law, hundreds and hundreds of laws interpreting the Ten Commandments. They put such a burden on the people, and Jesus didn't come to put heavy burdens on us. He said, "My yoke is easy, my burden is light." And Jesus said God the Father never wrote those laws. This is the only thing that God the Father wrote, not those volumes that fill a library. They didn't like Him because He had moved in to where they were and the people started following Him.

The Romans were afraid of Him because He was a king, and they were afraid He was going to usurp Caesar's kingship and they would then be without having the people of Israel enslaved to them. So there were those two historic groups: the Jewish leaders and the Roman government. Now notice I didn't say the soldiers. The soldiers that abused Him, I didn't include them because they only carried out orders. If Jesus hadn't been condemned and sentenced, they wouldn't have paid any attention to Him at all. I'm leaving them out. They didn't cause it at all. It was the Jewish leaders and the Roman government that caused it.

But now let me break it down just a little bit more. Let's break it down to the individuals. There were three individuals who were very much responsible for Jesus' death: there was Judas, there was Caiaphas the high priest, and Pilate. Judas sold Him for 30 pieces of silver after being with Him for three years.

I really can't put it together in my mind how Judas could be with Jesus for three years, hearing His message, seeing His miracles. The other disciples thought an awful lot of Judas. They elected him as their treasurer. He carried the money bag and paid the bills. That man, somewhere along the way—maybe progressively, maybe it wasn't all of a sudden—became so interested in gaining and making money and getting ahead and knowing the power of riches and comfort in this world that he lost sight of Jesus.

Friend, listen. You can lose sight of Jesus anywhere along the way. We get our eyes off of Jesus, and it's so easy to get our eyes off of Jesus. There are so many things there to allure us.

Guest (Male): Feeling stuck in habits or struggles that hold you back? The new ebook, *God's Power for You*, written by Pastor Jack Morris, is your guide to breaking free and transforming your life. This book isn't just about inspiration, but real change through God's love and grace. Filled with faith stories, practical steps, and biblical wisdom, you'll learn to tap into God's power to overcome obstacles and find lasting transformation. Don't let life's burdens weigh you down. With *God's Power for You*, discover the courage, strength, and faith to live in victory. Go to thehealingword.com and click on resources to receive your free copy today. Now, let's join Pastor Jack Morris for the conclusion of today's message.

Pastor Jack Morris: Notice what the scripture says. They handed Him over. Over and over, those words: they handed Him over. Judas handed Him over to Caiaphas the priest. Caiaphas the priest handed Him over to Pilate. Pilate then hands Him over to the soldiers. And then it was written: they crucified Him. I think of those words, but I envision in my mind the hymn that we just read that sang how they crucified Him.

I have to echo the very words of Pilate himself as to ask why? What crime has He committed? Can anyone find anything wrong with this man? But they crucified Him. Judas, as I said, out of greed, out of desire for money. It says in 1 Timothy 6:10, "The love of money is a root of all evil." It goes on to say that there have been those in the church, in the New Testament church in that day, who because they craved money, have departed from the faith and gone astray.

Once in the church, once in the body of Christ, heard the teachings of the Apostle Paul face to face, the Apostle Peter. I mean, who could preach better than Paul and Peter? Friend, if you're going to lose your soul, you're going to lose your soul even as Judas did, right in the presence of Jesus for three years. You can give up on Jesus any time you want to give up on Him. All it takes is an attitude that will become a behavior that becomes a sin. The choice is ours.

That is why we put this before us repeatedly to remind us. Look, "In remembrance of me." In remembrance. Oh, lest I forget Gethsemane, lest I forget thy thorn-crowned brow, lest I forget thy blood shed for me. It is so easy to forget. We have come back to the table today to remember.

Friend, you've all come from a variety of churches, and we're here today in the providence of God. It's not the way we worship or how we worship. It's Jesus. It's Jesus. Say those words: it's Jesus. I have to see Jesus and His love flowing down to me, and then I am so wonderfully blessed.

I saw a bumper sticker the other day on a car. He had a lot of bumper stickers, but this one really caught my eye. It said, "If money is the root of all evil, why are churches begging for it?" It's not money that is the root of all evil; it is when we love it and crave it, sacrifice for it, and make it the king of our heart. That is the root of all evil.

How do I know what I love? Love is that which I sacrifice for. I give up my pleasure. I give up my time. I give up my calendar. I give up my tithes and offerings. I'll sacrifice for that which I love, and if I'm not sacrificing for it and if I'm only doing it because I've just got to do it, it's convenient to do it, that's not love. Look at Jesus. Look at the sacrifice. Look at this table. That is love. You say, "Well, how do I know if I truly love?" Because of your sacrifice. Love always sacrifices.

And the priest, well, they turned on Jesus because Jesus had gone into their turf, their teaching. You see, Jesus was intruding. It's like, "Jesus, we've been here a long time. Why don't You just mind Your own business? We're the teachers of the law. We know what we should do."

Someone said, "You know, Pastor, I've been baptized as a child. I've been a Christian all my life. Don't tell me how to live now." But what Jesus does is intrude into our lives. I pray today He's intruding into your lives. I pray that your heart and my heart is being pricked and we're feeling something there that needs to be confessed and turned away from and given over to the Lord. For that is exactly what the priests were doing.

Then Pilate: power, status, prestige. He didn't want Caesar to take him away. So who really was responsible? Well, the historic figures, the Jewish leaders and the Roman government. Then we bring it down to the major players: Judas, the priest Caiaphas, and Pilate. But we bring it down just a little bit more. You and I were guilty also.

It is our sin that nailed Him to the cross. He looked ahead and saw what was going to happen and how we were going to, at our earliest childhood convenience, not only disobey our parents but disobey our heavenly Parent. Now, the very child that disobeys mommy and daddy also has that spirit of disobedience toward God. That spirit that that child has toward God, you're seeing it, daddy and mommy. It is coming out at you; it is also coming out at God. God help our kids. God help our parents.

That spirit has been in us of disobedience all these years until we repented and confessed to Jesus, and even then, it will still come back and haunt us and pull us astray and cause us to have to come back to the table and to repent again and confess again. You still with me, friends? Okay.

But we ourselves are guilty. Not only are we guilty of crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ, not only are we responsible, but God Himself is responsible for what happened here. Yes, God Himself, out of love. You see, I said it, I will say it again: look at what you give up, what you sacrifice. That is what you love.

God made a terrible sacrifice in giving up His Son, His only begotten Son, to bring us into His kingdom. That is why I know God loves us. I can see God's love. God's love has behaved itself out in manifestation. The scripture says in Hebrews 8:32, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all." Yes, the Jewish leaders and the Romans. Yes, Judas, Caiaphas, Pilate, those historic people. Yes, but how about us? How about God? We all played a big part in it.

Friend, we need to come to the altar today. Here is a suffering God who loved and suffered and gave and continues to give. Do you know Him as your personal Savior? Have you given your life to Him? Has the Holy Spirit spoken to your heart as you heard the message today and there's something there that needs to be confessed first and repented of? Then please do it. What that simply means is that God's not trying to make you miserable; He's trying to get you back to Him. That is His love calling you back. When you feel ashamed, when you feel guilty...