Could we turn please to Matthew chapter 27. One of the longest running radio programs which goes out on Friday evenings and also Saturday lunchtimes on Radio 4 is Any Questions. And this is a very popular program, and of course it's followed on Saturday by Any Answers. Another very popular program, I don't know if it's on at the moment, it's on the TV, is Question Time. And various panel get there and discuss all manner of things, et cetera, et cetera. And people all the time, have they not, have got questions. Children ask them all the time, and sometimes they ask embarrassing questions. But this morning, just briefly, I want to talk about a question asked by Pontius Pilate. And there in verse 22. What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? What a question. What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? Sadly, poor old Pilate got the wrong answer. So did many people there on that day, the Pharisees and the Sadducees who were egging the crades on, the crades that were calling for the Lord Jesus Christ to be crucified, to let go a man like Barabbas, And sadly, many, many people in the past have got the answer wrong. And so true today. People get the wrong answer. And for us here this morning, it is an important question that we need to answer personally for ourselves. What shall I, I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? And so much depends on the answer. It depends, the answer you give depends on where you spend eternity. There are only two places to go, heaven or how? So much depends on the answer that we would give to this question concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Well the first thing that we need to consider is our acceptance, our acceptance before God depends on the Lord Jesus Christ. Put it quite simply, it's like this. In Christ, God accepts us. Out of Christ, God rejects us. In John's gospel, and chapter three. Where are we? There we are. We read this, it's verse 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. You see, one thing that we can never ever come to God with is our so-called good works. Just suppose it was remotely possible, on the basis of good works, you'd never know if you'd done enough. And you'd have to be perfect. Now we all know none of us are in that league. It doesn't matter how good you are, take exams, I'm sure some of you in the past have taken exams, some perhaps may have yet to take them, I don't know. If the pass mark is 50, and you get one, you failed, miserably. If you get 49, you've failed, not submissively, but you've failed. You know, it's no good even beginning to think that good works. And not indeed on our character as well. To be acceptable on the basis of our character would mean we'd have to be absolutely holy. Which is certainly not true for any of us. There's a program on Radio 4 at 8.30 on Sunday evenings called Last Word. It's obituaries. Usually I have four people there, most of them never heard of, but some very interesting characters. but very rarely do you get any criticism. It's always what they've done, what they've accomplished. And the first, the most they go perhaps is to describe him as a colorful character, which is another word for being a rogue. But it's, when we talk about people, don't we? We do it, don't we? We have a eulogy. We always like to say the good things about people. The Bible tells us, doesn't it, that for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But the Lord Jesus Christ, he lived a complete, totally, utterly perfect life. And a complete, totally, utterly holy life. And therefore, Because of his perfection, because of his sinlessness, he was able to die as a substitute for the imperfect and the unholy ones such as us. And this is the good news of the gospel. This is the good news of the gospel and it gets better, doesn't it? On the Lord's Day we remember and celebrate the resurrection, a physical resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the grave. And you know whoever he or she is, whoever the most worst, horrible sinner that you know in your experience, If he or she genuinely, genuinely repents and looks in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her sin bearer, he or she can have their sins blotted out and be accepted by God. And you'll never hear better news than that, will you? You know, I mean, everybody's gonna go on bunny hunts over the weekend, and the major prize is to find a little chocolate egg, which is, in the moment, it's gone. What a blessing it is to find Christ, to discover that on the Lord, today, we remember his death for sinners, and on Sunday, we remember his rising from the grave. What a blessing it is. to know Christ. Another reason, what shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? Do you know it's only by coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that we can have peace of conscience and peace in our hearts. How many people do you know who are disturbed. Now, I don't mean they go around raving their heads off. But they've got problems. Family problems. Personal problems. Medical problems. You know, with Christ, you can know peace in the midst of them. Because you know, he is in control. What a blessing it is to have a conscience owned by the Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessing it is to have peace in our hearts. In a very familiar verse, of course, Romans 5, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God. through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that doesn't mean that you can go out and put your feet up and let the world go by. It's not that sort of peace. It doesn't mean the absence of conflict. Indeed, people that come to faith in Christ are often involved in far more conflict than if they never did. Especially in other places, but even in our own land. And from families as well. You don't get a good, it's not a buzz. It's not a good feeling. You know, sometimes we all like to polish our chests a bit and say, I did this, I did that. When I used to do the door work in London, I met so many people haunted by guilt, by past sins. abortion, divorce, substance abuse, and so many, many, many more. But this is the message of the gospel to whosoever will, Christ died on the cross at Calvary for the sins of his people. And when you know that personally, When you can say to yourself, Jesus is my Lord, he is my saviour, then you can know real peace, genuine peace that lasts indeed forever. What then, what shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? There are many, many ways in the world today of pleasure. Holidays, times with the family, many of them are good things, of course. But you know, it's only by coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that we can experience real joy. Because joy, of course, is a fruit of the Spirit. You can't have joy if you're not a Christian, because you ain't got the fruits of the spirit. You can pretend to. Always reminds me, I don't know, there used to be an advert many, many years ago for settlers. indigestion tablets. Or quick relief or something. And it starts off with this poor person sitting there looking like a wet weekend. And suddenly he takes a couple of these tablets and he's as perky as you could ever be. It's not like that at all. What we got to be careful of, and this is going to happen in the churches today, plastic smiles. You know, there's mum, dad and three kids, they're driving along the road to church, they're arguing away. Get to church and everyone's all smiles. We don't need to pretend. We don't need to put an act. Because we're what Christ is making us. I'm told that some of the saddest people in the world are comedians, which wouldn't surprise me. As I say, where do people, perhaps the money of the people living around this church this morning, where do they find their happiness? In money? Homes? Possessions, another person, fame. But look at the reality. It never lasts, does it? I can remember almost just over a year ago, feeling quite pleased and happy that my football team got promoted to the Premier League. A year later, it's all doom and gloom, they're going back to the championship. It just doesn't last, does it? Doesn't last. You see, a Christian, despite what's going on around the world, in their lives, they know joy. They know joy deep, deep within. And of course isn't it joy, joy, joy where? Deep down in my heart. It's not just up the top here, it's deep down in my heart. What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? And isn't it true? And all of us one day are going to face this, that only when we have a true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, can we confidently face death. Dying men, preaching to dying men. In 1 John, 1 John chapter 5 verse 11. And this is the record that God has given to us eternal life and this life is in his son. He that hath the son hath life, he that hath not the son of God hath not life. But you see we have to be so certain and sure and maintain that it is only through the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus himself said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. There's no salvation in any other religion. There's no salvation in what passes as Christianity today. Only in Christ. Sadly, or otherwise, lead to hell. So, there's that question again. What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? What we, us, you and I, and those that we seek to witness to, must do with the Lord Jesus Christ. By doing nothing, we reject him. It's an old adage, isn't it? Ignorance of the law is no excuse. And in Luke's gospel, in chapter 13, Jesus says this. Remember, he's been questioned about people that have been executed by Pilate, and some have had a tarot fall on them. And he says this, I tell you now, but except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. And again, further down in verse five, I tell you now, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. It's a question of either acceptance or rejection. And the acceptance must be positive. It's a question of confessing the Lord Jesus Christ or denying him. The New Testament word for a Christian is the word witness. And the Lord Jesus Christ this morning, for every one of us, he's either in our hearts or he's shut out of them. And the message surely of the gospel is, Do not leave it too late. Early in Matthew chapter seven and verse 23, we read this. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. What a situation. To approach the throne of grace, confident in all that you've done, are doing. And the Lord says, I never knew you. I never knew you. You see, we are either on the side of Peter and John and Paul or on the side of Pilate, Herod or Judas Iscariot. So the question, who is the Lord Jesus Christ? He is God's appointed and he's also God's anointed in Acts chapter two and verse 36. Therefore let all the haste of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is a divine person. He is the saviour, but he is also the only saviour. Look to the testimony of a witness. What a blessing it is to be able to share with fellow Christians. Do you do that? When was the last time someone here asked you your testimony? How did you get saved? What's Jesus done for you thus far this morning? What's he got, what have you got planned for this? And so on. What a blessing it is. And of course, this wonderful verse, isn't it? I think this is the best Christmas verse of the lot, actually. 1 Timothy 1.15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And then Paul goes on to say of whom I am chief. Well, perhaps one or two people might like to take issue, but it's in the scripture, so we assume he is the chief of sinners. What a testimony Paul had. What he was, a persecutor. A really nasty piece of work. The sort of person you'd cross the road to get out of the way of. And yet the Lord touched him, just outside Damascus. Changed him forever. I look back to the day, back in 1977, when the Lord touched me, and praise God, Nicky as well. And I tell you, it's not been easy since then. It's not easy now, I can assure you. But as it says in the hymn, I know whom I have believed. And I do trust the Lord Jesus Christ for the future, not just in this life, but forever. And I trust that's your testimony as well. That this was the night that God was to call you home. Well, would it be a call home? I trust it would. And you know, I find it sad that there's so many people either believe you can lose your salvation, which to me goes all against the teaching of scripture, or they're not sure. Do you know what a blessing assurance is? So I trust that just looking at this brief verse in Matthew's gospel this morning may have reinforced in our own hearts and minds the faith that we're so blessed to have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe it just might spur us on to talk to our unsaved loved ones, neighbours, friends, even people in the street because of late Christ, they're totally lost. Let's pray together. Our dear, gracious Lord and heavenly Father, we do indeed thank you that on this day we remember the Lord Jesus Christ as he went all the way to the cross at Calvary, to die there a sinner's death for sinners like ourselves. Thank you that he did indeed do all that was needful and necessary to obtain the salvation of his people. We thank you that the sacrifice he made on that cross was once and for all complete and finished. It is over. And may we, each and every one of us here, know this wonderful fact for ourselves. May we know truly that Jesus is our Lord, and our Saviour. So dear Heavenly Father, please continue with us for the rest of our time together this morning. Bless us through the rest of this day and indeed through the Easter period. We pray for this in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Our last hymn is number 196. All ye that pass by to Jesus draw nigh. To you is it nothing that Jesus should die. Your ransom and peace, your surety he is. Come see if there ever was sorrow like his. 196.