Category: 2017 Sermons

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Sermon Audio: Jesus Before the Council
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 22:63-71
Duration: 21:14
Size: 9.72 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
Jesus Before the Council
Luke 22:63-71

The Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem was the final judicial authority in Israel, comparable to the Supreme Court of the United States.

The witnesses were to attest to the identity of the party, and to depose to the month, day, hour, and circumstances of the crime.

But in their zeal to destroy Jesus they committed a number of violations against their own system of jurisprudence.

I. Jesus Was Mocked and Blasphemed (Luke 22:63-65)

Jesus was innocent of all wrongdoing, and the soldiers were mocking him, beating him, and blaspheming him.

II. Jesus Was Charged with Blasphemy (Luke 22:66-71)

The Greek word for Christ is the same as the Hebrew word “Messiah,” and it literally means, “one who has been anointed.”

The title Jesus most often used to refer to himself was “Son of Man.” But this title is often misunderstood. (Daniel 7:13-14)

So, the term “Son of Man” is really expressing the deity – rather than the humanity – of Jesus.

It was this assertion that Jesus is the Son of God that was particularly problematic to the council. They believed that this assertion was blasphemy.

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Sermon Audio: Peter Denies Jesus
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 22:54-62
Duration: 21:43
Size: 9.94 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
Peter Denies Jesus
Luke 22:54-62

Peter’s faith did fail him. And as Jesus predicted, before the rooster crowed later that morning, Peter denied three times that he knew Jesus.

Peter’s denial of Jesus in Luke 22:54-62 shows us the danger of following Jesus in our own power.

I. The Path to the Denials (Luke 22:54-55)

Peter wanted to go farther than anyone else down the road that Jesus walked to the cross.

II. The Particulars in the Denials (Luke 22:56-60a)

However, given Jesus’ immense popularity with the people and Peter’s prominence as Jesus’ apostle, it is very likely that she had seen Peter with Jesus, perhaps even earlier in the week.

One does not deny Jesus for no reason. No, there is a process that leads to a denial.

First, proud self-confidence.

Second, indolent neglect of prayer.

Third, vacillating indecision.

Fourth, mingling with bad company.

Fifth, overwhelming fear when suddenly charged with being a disciple of Jesus.

Great sin is always the result of not dealing with smaller sins.

And yet, his courage completely failed him when the environment became hostile, and he was accused of being a disciple of Jesus.

Speak as a follower of Jesus Christ. “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Colossians 4:6).

III. The Pain in the Denials (Luke 22:60b-62)

All his self-confidence was gone, all his bravado was gone, and all his presumption was gone.

Repentance makes a man’s heart soft and his conscience tender, and shows itself in real turning to a Father in heaven.

We know that Peter was with the rest of the disciples, no doubt sad at the death of Jesus, and bitterly repentant over his own denial of Jesus.

Have you fallen into sin? Know that Jesus will do the same gracious work of forgiveness in your life too.

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Sermon Audio: Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 22:47-53
Duration: 21:59
Size: 10.0 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus
Luke 22:47-53

God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to seek and to save the lost.

The betrayal and arrest of Jesus in Luke 22:47-53 teaches us that Jesus was in control of God’s plan of redemption.

I. Jesus Was in Control in the Betrayal of Judas (Luke 22:47-48)

He had been specially chosen and called by Jesus himself to be with him for three years.

Jesus loves lost sinners, and even in the moment of his betrayal Jesus was appealing to Judas to recognize what he was doing so that he could repent.

Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss. But even with that kiss, Jesus was still in control in the betrayal of Judas.

II. Jesus Was in Control in the Reaction of the Disciples (Luke 22:49-51)

The disciples of Jesus reacted immediately when they saw that he was betrayed.

Peter’s use of the sword demonstrated zeal, but it was short-lived. His courage soon faded.

III. Jesus Was in Control in the Rebuke to the Crowd (Luke 22:52-53)

By coming at night, the religious authorities showed that they were doing something that was outside the bounds of the law.

Although Satan seemed to triumph in Gethsemane, at Calvary, and in the dark days when Jesus was buried in the grave, his victory turned to defeat on Easter Sunday.

We need to believe that God is at work even in our darkest hour.

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Sermon Audio: Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 22:39-46
Duration: 23:35
Size: 10.8 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives
Luke 22:39-46

Jesus’ extreme suffering was about to begin as he entered the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives that night.

I. Jesus’ Preparation (Luke 22:39-40)

Jesus knew that his beloved band of disciples were also about to undergo their most severe trial and temptation.

II. Jesus’ Agony (Luke 22:41,43-44)

What is interesting is that the normal posture for prayer in Jesus’ day was standing upright rather than kneeling.

“No man will ever be capable of sounding the depths of what the Savior experienced in Gethsemane when the full reality of his suffering in soul and body penetrated into his immaculate spirit.”

It was Jesus’ intense agony that buckled his knees and drove him to the ground and to his heavenly Father in prayer.

III. Jesus’ Prayer (Luke 22:42)

In his great agony and in anticipation of the suffering to come Jesus turned to the only One who not only had the ability to help him, but was ready to do so.

“He was not seeking to disobey the will of God, but in his manhood he desired to not suffer the shame of the cross and all it entailed.”

Jesus endured intense agony and suffering to pay the penalty for your sin and mine.

He who can say from his heart, when a bitter cup is before him, “Not my will, but thine be done,” has reached a high position in the school of God.

IV. Jesus’ Direction (Luke 22:45-46)

So, let us be on our guard against his temptations by going to the Lord in prayer.

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Sermon Audio: The Last Discourse
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Scripture Text: Luke 22:21-38
Duration: 25:16
Size: 11.5 MB

Luke-The Investigative Gospel
The Last Discourse
Luke 22:21-38

But they were having a hard time wrapping their minds around what Jesus was saying to them.

Eventually, they would understand Jesus’ teaching. But that night they did not understand his teaching and showed several areas of failure.

I. Deception (Luke 22:21-23)

Judas had already met with the religious leaders and planned to betray Jesus to them.

As they continued to ask each other about the identity of the one who would be guilty of deception, they all fell into another failure.

II. Dissension (Luke 22:24-30)

Three times in these verses Jesus reminded his disciples to lead “as one who serves.”

III. Denial (Luke 22:31-34)

But the reason Peter did not fail is not primarily because of his faith but because of Jesus’ intercession for Peter.

When there is no danger, it is easy to say how bold we will be for Jesus.

IV. Dullness (Luke 22:35-38)

However, Jesus also prepared his disciples to understand that after his arrest, crucifixion, and death, things would change.

And if that is true for the apostles, who were with Jesus for three years, we ask ourselves, “What hope is there for us? Can we do any better?”

He took on our flesh, lived among us, and ultimately died between two thieves.

It is because Jesus identifies with us, atones for our sin, and then intercedes for us.