Please stand together and let's read from John 19 and verse 25. John 19 and verse 25. Now remember, we are now come to the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. John 19, 25, now listen to God's word. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister. Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. Then he said to his disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour, that disciple took her to his own home. And everybody said, Amen. Please be seated. Well, brothers and sisters, we come to this message on widows and honoring of mothers on this Sunday morning. I don't think I've ever preached a message on this before, and it is a surprising thing to me that it came on the day that our brother comes to exhort us on the treatment of the elderly and the treatment of widows. I think this is important. Now, this itself is an amazing passage. It truly is an amazing passage for a lot of reasons. There's so much of the Word of God that is stunning for its simplicity. It comes to us in very simple terms, very few words. But you've got to be listening, and if you are, then you'll get so much insight from them. That's why there have been so many books and so many sermons preached on the seven sayings of the Lord Jesus on the cross. Of all of the seven sayings, I think this is the most surprising. This is the one that takes us back more than I think all of the other of the seven sayings. Now, whenever you hear the last words of anybody, they are important. We listen. We pay attention to them. We remember them. If these were the last words of your own father, or your own mother, or your grandmother, it seems to me we pay attention to these words. because these are the last words. Oftentimes, there's a little more significance or import or application to our own lives as we hear the very, very last words. These are very momentous. These are important words. Don't gloss over these words this morning. And also, you'll note that these sayings of Christ, the seven sayings of Jesus on the cross, are very simple words. They're very short, very short and pithy statements. And I think partially because Jesus Christ could not have preached the Sermon on the Mount from the cross because of the pain and the agony. I don't know much of hanging on the cross, but they say that the effort it takes to hold yourself up and to continue to breathe is monumental. It's horrific. The agony and the pain involved in crucifixion, this long-term torture, made it difficult for our Savior to say very much from the cross. So therefore, the sayings of Christ on the cross are very short, and you have to lean forward a little bit. You have to stand forward in order to hear these words from the lips of our Savior on the cross. This, of course, is a great event unfolding, so we're very interested in the commentary. There is commentary going on from Jesus as well. But you know what's interesting about this passage? It's one of the most interesting passages in all of Scripture to preach from. I don't think I've ever confronted a passage that has so much involved. And it has all these aspects that converge in one sermon or one message or seven words. Behold your son. Woman, behold your son. Behold your mother. And what you get is the theological, the practical, and the doctrinal. You have all of these aspects coming together in these seven words. And this gives us something of a lesson in hermeneutics. How do we interpret scripture? How do I preach? And you know there's controversy over preaching. And if you preach wrongly, you don't edify the people of God very well. So I understand why the seminaries are in arguments and the homiletics classes are constantly presenting a certain form of teaching and preaching for the church. So there's all of this controversy that goes on. Do we preach the theological? The human nature of Jesus is known by His recognition of His mother. So you preach the two natures of Christ into one person there at the cross. You preach the obedience of Christ, that He obeyed, that there is a passive element. to Christ's service as our Savior when He was here on earth? There is an obedience element, and then therefore the theological comes forward, or do we preach the practical? So we admonish and we apply and we exhort our brothers and sisters, pay attention to the elderly. Pay attention to those parents, the elderly parents in your life. Do we focus in upon the practical? Do we apply this message? Is this an example for us? Does Christ present an example for us here at the cross? And then thirdly, there's a doctrinal element as well that teaches something about Jesus, that there is a love about our Savior that is marked at the cross. So what do we preach? What do we teach? Which is it? We are warned not to preach holiness. Do not preach Christ as the example. Do not preach the practical. Do not apply the Word of God. I remember in my denomination formerly, I received counsel from the magazine presented to the elders of the church. And one of the articles said, whatever you do, don't apply the sermon. Don't you dare preach holiness. Don't you preach holiness. Don't turn the Bible into a bunch of moralistic do's and don'ts. So which is it? Do we preach theology? Do we preach doctrine? Do we preach what happened? Or do we preach the application of the doctrine? Which is it? And the answer, of course, is yes. The answer is we bring it all together into a oneness in the message. If not, we fall into moralisms. We turn the Bible into a gigantic example for us. If we don't get the theological and we reside upon the imperative, we're in trouble. So either way, we're in trouble. If we reject the application, then we reject the second half of almost every epistle. The word of God is presented as a story, as an indicative, as a theological insight into God himself, as well as an exhortation, an encouragement, a practical application for how we live our lives. So that's why this passage is so good. So let's step back for a moment and ask the question, what's going on here? What's happening here? Well, it is a crucifixion of an innocent man. So that certainly is the case. Pilate has, in this chapter, what, three, maybe four times, pointed out to the Jews, he's innocent. This Messiah of yours, this one who is supposed to be a king, is innocent and should not be crucified. And yet they are crucifying an innocent man, but not an ordinary man. extraordinary man. This is the crucifixion of a person who has always existed, the Son of God Himself, the creator of the universe, the sustainer of the entire universe, the one who holds every Cyrus, every Augustus Caesar, every powerful empire in the world in his hands. This is the king of kings, the sovereign God over all creation on the cross. Who is this person? Significant. Important. I love the lyrics of Phil Keagy. Listen. The maker of the universe. As man for man was made a curse. The claims of law which he had made. Unto the uttermost he would pay. His holy fingers made the bow which grew the thorns that crowned his brow. The nails that pierced his hands were mined in secret places he designed. He made the forest whence there sprung the tree on which his body hung. He died upon a cross of wood, yet made the hill on which it stood. The day that darkened o'er his head, by him above the earth was spread. The sun that hid from him its face, by his decree, was poised in space. Maker of the universe, as man for man, was made a curse. I don't know if any more powerful lyrics have ever been put to music in the history of hymnody, ever. This is the person on the cross. Secondly, consider the importance of the event itself. Now, Christ was conscious of this. He realized what was going on. Now, not that the three women knew. or that the disciples knew. They had abandoned Him. You remember this. Peter had denied Him. But Christ knew what was going on. He was conscious of the import, the eternal import. After all, it had been planned from all eternity. The Father and the Son, in covenant, had planned and purposed this phenomenal event in all of human history. You remember that his disciples tried to prevent him from it. Do you remember that? What did he say? Get me, thee behind me, Satan. You know not what mind you are of. He was dying for the sins of the world. He was the Lamb of God come to take away the sin of the world. This was the key event in all of redemptive history. Revelation 5, remember at the end, imagine Revelation 5, where history is going. Here's the end of history. Here's where we're headed, brothers and sisters. A hundred million, they say 10,000 times 10,000, which is at least a hundred million in this congregation. Much bigger than any group that ever gathered around Billy Graham. A hundred million people gathered around the Lamb. Our Lord Jesus Christ at the end, now listen, and what do they say? Worthy is the Lamb who was slain in 33 AD on that cross in human history, in real time, in real history. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, for you were slain and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. So that is the most awesome, most memorable event in all time and eternity according to the memory of the redeemed of God in eternity. So this is what's going on. You need to understand this, to understand the thrust of this passage, brothers and sisters. The man on the cross, who is he? Son of God. The importance of the event for us, critical, for all eternity. the necessity of the event. He was the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world. It was planned. It was purposed. It was certain. It had to happen. There was no getting around it. He could have called 100,000 angels and wiped out Rome and Jerusalem. But he was involved in a very important project, and he would not deter from it. He would not change the entire direction. He would continue. He would not be deterred from this. And so here's Christ, setting his face like a flint, going to the cross, nailed to the cross, suffering for the sins of the world. And all action stops. Metaphysically, what is happening is the most astounding salvation, the most astounding turnaround for all of human creation, reconciling the world to God, bringing about our forgiveness and our eternal salvation, that's what's going on in the cross, but there's something else happening. The action stops. The cataclysmic, epochal, monumental battle against the prince of pies and powers for the redemption of the world and for the conquering of Satan and the destruction of all evil stops. Woman, behold your son. Behold your mother. What is this? It seems incongruous, doesn't it? It doesn't fit. Was it unintentional? Was it accidental? Was it superfluous? What is going on here? What is happening? Now do you see it for a moment, the significance of this passage? Do you get it? I want to explain the reason for this. I need to explain it. I didn't understand it myself. I said, well, why did he do this? It doesn't make any sense at all. Why would he stop and say, woman, behold your son, and behold your mother, to the Apostle John? Why would he do that? I have several reasons. Number one, Exodus chapter 20, in verse 12. You can turn there if you'd like. I think it's important you see this. So, go to Exodus 20, 12. I think this is important. The first reason why Christ did this is because this is God's law. It is God's law. Now, I know we live in an antinomian age. I get that. People don't like the law of God very much. But I think we need to step back for a moment and say, why did Christ do this for His mother because of Exodus 20 and verse 12. Now listen, honor your father and mother that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. God said that. Now, that's a big deal for Jesus. Granted, the world doesn't believe that. But friends, that's a big deal for Jesus. That's a really big deal. Go on down to verse 22. Then the Lord said to Moses, Exodus 20, 22. Follow it down there. Then the Lord said to Moses, thus you shall say to the children of Israel, You have seen that I've talked with you from heaven. You shall not make anything to be with me, gods of silver or gods of gold. You shall not make for yourselves any graven image. Verse one of chapter 21 now, skip down to 21 verse one. Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them. And then down to verse 21, and he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. Why did Jesus do this? Because of Exodus 20 and 21, that's why. And now, we read a little from Psalm 119, but I want you to understand the heart of Jesus. This should be the heart of every true believer, and it was the heart of David in Psalm 119, but listen to, as Jesus reads these words, and he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. Christ reads that, and how does he react to it? It's one of the judgments that God gave to Moses. Listen to what Psalm 119 verse 160 says. The entirety of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous judgments endures forever. And verse 164, seven times a day I praise you because of your righteous judgments. And then, as we read earlier, oh how love I thy law, it is my meditation all the day. You say, well you gotta be kidding. Christ loves Exodus 21. You gotta be kidding me. He loves the judgments of God. He loves the law of God. He praises God seven times a day for his judgments. You gotta be kidding me. Christ loved God's laws? The answer is yes, he did. He did. He loved the laws of God. Listen to Matthew 15. This is that section of Scripture in which the Pharisees were mad at the disciples because they hadn't washed their hands before they ate. The scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus saying, why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. He answered and said to them, why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, saying, honor your father and your mother, and he who curses father or mother, let him be put to death. But you say, whoever says to his father and mother, whatever profit you may have received from me is a gift of God, then he need not honor his father and mother, thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites, why did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying, these people draw near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Now, what Jesus Christ is, condemning the Pharisees for is that they pretended to like the laws of God but had created all their own traditional approaches to washing hands and to cleaning things and so forth. And then they had created another problem of Korban in which you could give a gift to the temple. Let's say your net worth was $140,000. You could sign off $138,000 to the temple and then you wouldn't be responsible for the financial care for your parents in their old age. So it's like a social security program except run by the temple. And then the parents didn't get anything anyway. Not too much different than ours. But Jesus says, you hypocrites. You have displaced the laws of God by your own tradition. Your traditions came in like the camel's nose in the tent, which is what human traditions like to do. So we bring in all these institutions of man, like Social Security, or Corban, or whatever it is, and all of these human traditions come in like the camel's nose in the tent, and gradually work the commandments of God into irrelevance in the lives of God's people. And that's what Jesus is condemning the Pharisees for. And he did a great deal of that throughout his three years of ministry. But the fact is, why does he become so incensed, and why is he so committed to God's law, but that he loved the laws of God? He saw that the Pharisees had compromised on the laws of God, and he didn't like that. All right, so number one, this was God's law. Number two, second reason why this at the cross as Jesus is caring for his mother. The second reason is he loved the laws of God. The third reason why Christ said this at the cross is that he obeyed the law of God. He obeyed the law of God. He obeyed as our righteousness. And this is very key for our salvation. Did Adam succeed in the garden at obeying God? He failed, didn't he? Children, did Adam obey God in the Garden of Eden? No, he didn't. So the first Adam failed to obey. But then Christ comes, and now he obeys. And we see his obedience. And this is an example of the obedience of Christ. Now, you see this combination at the cross, it's so beautiful, in which Jesus is the sacrifice, But at the same time, he's obedient, and he's the obedient sacrifice. What does Hebrews say, or what does 1 Samuel say as God speaks to Saul? Remember, Saul brought all of these sacrifices to God. He saved the very best of the animals and the Amalekites to sacrifice to God. Did God say, I'm so appreciative of your sacrifice? No, because Saul had disobeyed. And his response was, obedience is better than sacrifice. And so Christ as the second Adam becomes the faithful, obedient representative of his people and indeed our righteousness as well. So you see this is very important. that He's following through. And we read this concerning His care for His mother. He followed through on disobedience. Psalm 40, verse 8, I delight to do Your will, O God. And that's repeated in the book of Hebrews several times. See, this is the heart of Christ. And when you think of the salvation that Jesus brought to us, or the work He did at the cross, Please don't negate the obedience of Christ. I know we keep thinking He sacrificed on the cross for our sins, but He was obedient to God as well. And that's as valuable, that's as precious, that's as beautiful to us as the sacrifice itself. And for God, for God, it's even better. You see, it's even better. God is more pleased by the obedience of His Son than by his son's sacrifice. Now he wanted both, yes. We're not demeaning the fact that he provided the sacrifice. That indeed was an obedience as well because the father willed this too. But his obedience was more of the core and the crux of what Christ is all about. That we would be saved, why? Because we are disobedient. And in order for the disobedient to go to heaven, kids, somebody had to obey. And who was that? That was Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ obeyed His Father on the cross. But you might think for a moment, yeah, but His mother's future just seems so mundane. And I think that's one reason we're shocked by this. He's looking out for His mother on the cross while He's being sacrificed for the sins of the world and coming to the point where He will reconcile His people to Himself and bring about this redemption, this amazing redemption. But He obeys. And yes, it appears mundane. All obedience appears mundane. I think every act of obedience just comes across as, You mean I have to be nice to my wife this morning. So that's what you want. I thought you wanted me to get out there and make an impact and get elected as President of the United States and tell everybody else what to do. But you want me to speak to my wife in a gentle and a loving tone this morning, that's it, that's what you want God, that's what you want. God's law tends to be, sometimes in our perception, mundane. But not in God's eyes. Not in God's eyes. Not in the eyes of Christ. He loved his mother. We'll get to that in a moment. But friends, he loved God even more. He loved his mother. And we're gonna get to that. I know some of you are saying, yeah, he did it because he loved his mother. We'll get to that in just a second, but I wanted to get to the first point. He loved God. He loved God the Father with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and obeyed his Father to the umpteenth degree. I met a man, professed to be a Christian about 25 years ago, and I think we're referring to one of these Old Testament judgments, and he was horrified by the laws of God. He was horrified I'll never forget his demeanor as I brought out something from the Old Testament, some law of God. And he was just horrified by God's law. Jesus was not horrified by the law of God. It's obvious here. He brings out in Matthew 15 this Old Testament judgment that required capital punishment for a young man that cursed his father or mother. And I've seen so many instances in which young men curse their mother and father on the internet, and then a year later, became involved in one of the massacres, one of the famous massacres. The massacres always tend to follow this dishonor to mother and father. But I remember seeing this one time in a restaurant, or no, it was at King Soopers. About 20 years ago, I was in this King Soopers, and this 17-year-old boy was in his father's face cursing his father. A death penalty crime. Horrific. It just causes you to to shake. See, I'm not sure we're always horrified by sin. If you saw a murder at Safeway tomorrow morning, somebody pulls a gun, shoots somebody, there may be some horror involved. We tend not to be horrified by the violation of God's laws, but Jesus was. Jesus wasn't horrified by God's laws. Jesus was horrified by 17-year-old sons cursing in their father's face in the supermarket. That's what our Lord Jesus would find horrifying. He rather loved the law of God, and he found sin to be horrifying. Now, of course, we can be horrified by other people's sins, but not so horrified by ourselves when we get impatient with our children in the home or when we get to grabbing each other's toys and things as our brother exhorted us. So the detail may seem mundane, but God's laws are not mundane. And neither are our relationships. Neither are the people that God brings into our lives. This is not mundane. It's not mundane how we treat our parents. Our parents may not be important to some children, but parents are important to God. Sometimes young men ask me, how do I honor my father who's an abuser and a drug user and he's doing 20 years in a state penitentiary? Does Jesus want me to honor my father? And I say, yes he does. Now you can honor him by sharing the love of Christ and the gospel to him while he's in his prison cell. You can honor him in various ways. But you honor your father and your mother. Why? Because parents are important to God. Fourthly, why does Christ care for Mary here on the cross? It's because He is expressing love for her. Now get this, this is important for all of us. He is loving while suffering. Now I don't know if you know what it's like to be tortured or crucified, but it's hard sometimes to be focused on others while you're suffering pain yourself. This is one of the biggest challenges to love is while you are in the midst of agony and pain and all you can think about is the agony of the nails in your hands and your feet and the crown of thorns pressed to your side and you're hanging by your flesh on these nails. It's hard to focus in on other people while you're thinking about how much it hurts. concerned about your own pain and your own condition and your own situation. So I think this is instructive of the mindset of the Savior, who's not talking about Himself, but concerned about others, concerned about His mother on the cross. This is the great example of love. He's concerned for the physical well-being of His mother. as well as the spiritual well-being of his mother. Now one of the reasons he's on the cross, I want you to think about this as well, is he's concerned for his mother's life, but he's also concerned for his mother's death. So what does he do? Why is Christ on the cross? There are several reasons, but one reason is that Christ has seen that his mother is going to go through the throes of death. His mother suffers diseases and his mother will die someday. And so Christ said, well, I have to fix this problem too. I want to Consider the physical nurture and well-being and provision for my mother, but I also am concerned about my mother's death. My mother will die someday. And so Christ comes and he dies and he rises from the dead, not for himself. You understand, it's not to prove that he can somehow conquer death himself. Jesus versus death, Jesus wins. That's not why he did it. He did it so that he would be the first fruits. of those who rose from the dead. Do you see? That is, He knew He would have to go through death to rise from the dead in order to give life to His followers and to marry. So Christ is concerned for the immediate physical needs of His mother and also for the physical needs, the death of His mother. He wants to give her life. He wants to give her eternal life. and he wants her body to rise from the dead. That's important to him. Then secondly, he's also there dying on the cross for Mary's soul, for Mary's sins, that Mary would receive eternal life and spiritual life. So this is the picture of the love of Christ. He cares for Mary's well-being, but it's just the tip of the iceberg because there's so much more. Mary has other problems in her life. Mary needs to rise from the dead. Mary needs her sins paid for. Mary needs to rise as a new creature in Christ, and that's why he was on the cross. Well, let's move on to application. I want you to know that Eusebius, Irenaeus, and others have certified that John moved to Ephesus and brought Mary with him, probably around 60 AD-ish. before the persecutions of Nero really began to kick in. So John was in Ephesus while he was there. He discipled Polycarp, who became the pastor of Smyrna, the church 50 miles north of Ephesus. He also cared for Mary in her old age, and to this day, many of you know, the house where Mary and John lived is still preserved in Ephesus. You can go there sometime if you'd like, and you can see where John lived, where Mary lived until she died. Eventually John was exiled to Patmoson Island about 50 miles to the southeast of Ephesus. So it was all around Ephesus that everything happened after 60 AD. All right, so John followed through. Now what is the application for us as we wrap up? Well, the first question is should we be like Christ? Should his priorities be our priorities? Well, 1 John 2, 6, whoever says he abides in Christ ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. So if you abide in Christ this morning, walk with him. If you abide in Christ, you need to go where he goes. You need to do what he does. Say, I just don't feel like I have much fellowship with Christ. Well, are you where he is? Did you go visit a widow this last week? Did you visit somebody in prison this last week? See, He's there. That's where He is. Did you visit a brother who was ill or a brother who was taken by some accident or what have you? Did you serve somebody? That's where Jesus is. So we walk where He walks. We do what He does. That's just the basic Christian life, isn't it? Well, the caring for widows doesn't appear on our radar screens very much in the day in which we live. The honor for parents has faded so very much. It's a reviving, I believe, in God's people, and we're seeing that in rest home ministries and other things, but to gain the impression that America cares well for their elderly, I think is a wrong impression. I don't believe we do as a nation. Again, the people of God, we follow Jesus. We want to do what Jesus does. His priorities become our priorities. Our commitment to make money but not to emphasize relationships and not to provide for lonely elderly is an indication that we live in a materialistic age. And so as Christians, we repudiate that. We have no real interest in this materialism. We don't. We're into relationships. In an age where seven times the percentage of people are living alone than did at the turn of the 20th century, people are lonely. Listen to an article somebody sent me from the Texas Observer. A journalist went to visit her grandmother in a nursing home in Texas. And this is a little bit raw, but I'm just gonna read it the way she wrote it. Here we go. She goes to a nursing home to visit her grandmother. And the journalist writes this. She's naked from the waist up when we enter the room. She's curled up in the fetal position, facing the wall. The bare skin of her back is taut and creamy. I remember this moment only now, months later. At the time, I was distracted by the stench of urine, sour milk, and a colostomy bag that had desperately needed changing. My grandmother lay there somewhere between unconsciousness and the painful reality of being awake. Her forefinger was curled up in the cord residents pull when they need a nurse. The tip of her finger was blue, but her fingernail was covered in a dingy brown film, so dirty that I reconsidered hugging her hello. Hovering at her bedside, I wondered how many days of accumulated filth it would take to turn up a fingernail that color. The finger moved slightly, rhythmically. She didn't speak to us. We couldn't help her. Instead, she intermittently mumbled what had become her mantra, God, please help me. God, please help me. During the last years of her life, my grandmother paid from $4,000 to $5,700 a month to live in facilities she never called home. That's from the Texas Observer, a secular newspaper. I don't know, are we missing something? Is our society abandoned? Are elderly? Does it sound like that to you? What do you think Christ would think? The one hanging on the cross in utter agony, making sure that somebody was caring for his own mother? The point of the story was, according to the journalist, the older they are, the less money they have, and yet, the more care they need. Let me say that one more time. The older they are, the less money they have, And yet, the more care they need. So inevitably, friends, the socialist capitalist system will revert to providing the least common denominator care for the masses. And euthanasia. You know that's coming. If it's not already here. The problem with socialism is we run out of other people's money, as Margaret Thatcher said in 1976. And 2011 was a remarkable year. I remind you of it again. It was the year in which 80 million baby boomers began retiring and the year that the Social Security Fund went into the red for the first time. And the elderly support ratio has dropped from 13.6 to 1 in 1900. to 6.0 to 1 in 1960, and now 2.8 to 1 as the population has imploded upon itself. Now granted, you may say that 80 million baby boomers did abort 80 million babies imploding the birth rate to 1.71. Yes, I get that. And the use of abortifacients with a contraceptive pill and the rest have created a nightmare And if the churches don't preach against this with everything in them, and call the people of God to repentance, they're not worthy of being called a true church, especially in this day. The treatment of the children, the babies, and the treatment of the elderly will dictate where we are as a nation and as a church. You know, and again, if we look into the future, you'd say, well, the federal government might be able to somehow salvage the Social Security fund. But friends, the federal government, the debt to GDP ratio has tripled since 1980. And it's gone sky high, it's doubled since the last recession. We haven't recovered from the last recession. We're spending money like drunken sailors. We're spending our great-grandchildren into debt while soaking the Social Security fund, while imploding the birth rates, and destroying the character of the next generation. You tell me how that is gonna fare for the next generation of retirees. And there's only one word that comes back, and it seems inevitable that euthanasia will take the lives of perhaps 50 million elderly, or 100 million elderly in the next 60 years. Unless the church wakes up. Unless the church repents. Unless the church understands the heart of Jesus Christ on the cross. Brothers and sisters, if you abide in Christ, you walk where he walked. It's interesting. What do you see in the book of Acts? This is really interesting. You get the outpouring of the Spirit of God, which immediately resulted in the care of the widows, immediately resulted in the care of the poor, the redistribution of wealth voluntarily. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God results in close, loving care for each other in the redistribution of the wealth. The modern world is horrified by this idea. Socialists are horrified by it. But remember, the forcible redistribution of the wealth comes from the outpouring of Satan upon Karl Marx. I want you to understand that the socialist modern approach to welfare and to social security starts with a Marxist concept of redistributing wealth, forcing people to love people. It's monstrous. It's a Frankensteinian monstrosity. I believe it did take a demonic outpouring to create the modern socialist Marxist nightmarish situation we're in today. Karl Marx admitted to being filled with what he called the spirit of Apollyon. He believed that he was filled with the devil himself, Satan himself, in his prose and his poems. And then he produces this system that's utterly destructive, destroys the family, it's destroyed churches, it's a violation of God's laws, it's just wicked. And the results of the Great Society, as you know, 75% of these little boys and these little girls born in these inner cities, actually it's upwards of 85 to 90%, are born without fathers. And we see the utter destruction of family, fatherhood, and all the rest. And then abortion becomes the solution. Euthanasia becomes the solution. You know how this works. You know how progressivism works. They start out saying we're the most loving people on earth. Like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who was probably one of the most evil men ever, but considered himself the most loving man because he developed a concept of the modern socialist state, but abandoned five of his own children to die in an orphanage on the day they were born. That's typical liberalism. They're forcing other people, they're forcing the government to love. But it's a demonic monstrosity. It can't happen. You say, what is the only other option? The only other alternative is Pentecost. The only other alternative is the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon the people of God to impoverish themselves for the sustenance of the widows and orphans in their communities. You say that's a miracle, that that kind of stuff happens. It was a miracle. It's interesting, in the Old Testament, where were the widow ministries in the Old Testament? This is one of the things I, Acts 6 appears, just boom, they're caring for the widows of the Greeks and the Jews. You notice that? Acts 6, where are the deacons in the Old Testament? Somebody else might be able to help me with this. But you don't find much in terms of widow ministries, but immediately after the outpouring of the Spirit of God, the diaconate takes off. There is this voluntary redistribution of the wealth within the body of the church that made it so distinct from the world around them. Widows were willing to receive the aid of the people of God versus the state. So if the Holy Spirit is with the true church, and He is, we will abandon socialism and replace elder care with family and church over the next 20 to 30 years. Let's close with this passage, Matthew 25. Close right here, Matthew 25. When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations. He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left, and the king will say to those on his right, come you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, you gave me food. I was thirsty, you gave me drink. I was a stranger, you welcomed me. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the king will answer, truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. And then it goes on to the goats, who didn't do this to the least of his brothers, and he says, depart from me. This is the final judgment. This apparently is the matter that will be brought up at the final judgment. We don't have much insight concerning what will be discussed at the final judgment, but evidently this is important. Now, we're not saying that any of the treatment of God's people will merit you your position in the kingdom of God. The fact that you are in the kingdom of God is descriptive of the kind of person you are and the kind of people that you serve. But what is surprising here, is that Jesus isn't discussing the finer points of eschatology or ecclesiology or even soteriology at the final judgment. Isn't that interesting? I mean, you might have thought, well, he might talk about the doctrine of justification by faith. Or whether I was a Calvinist and gave a lot, a lot of encouragement to the sovereignty of God and the glory of God and the sovereignty versus all of the other bad churches all around us that don't do that. But you see, he doesn't discuss that. That doesn't seem to be a matter of significance at the judgment day. He doesn't discuss who you voted for and how much you complained about politics. And some of us are good at that. I know I am. Or whether you used public policy to change the whole world. He doesn't talk about how much money you made and how much money you contributed to the kingdom of God. to missionaries or whatever it is. He doesn't talk about who you witness to. He doesn't talk about evangelism. You know how evangelism is a big push by the churches? Or even family worship, like family worship, a big push in this church. He doesn't talk about any of that. What matters to Jesus on Judgment Day, now listen carefully, is whether or not you recognized His brothers and sisters. in need. That's it. That's it. Whether or not you recognized His brothers and sisters, that you knew these people are brothers and sisters, blood-bought sons and daughters of the living God. You know, He wants to know that you recognized a brother, a sister, right here in this congregation. He wants to know that you looked around you and said, oh, other brothers and sisters in Christ. But even more important, that you recognized your brothers and sisters in need, and that you loved the brothers and sisters that He put right in front of you. It's just that basic. Now, it all has to do with identity. It all has to do with the fact that we are all sinners saved by grace. It's that we've been justified together. And we recognize each other as fellow adoptees into the family of God. It's that simple, brothers and sisters. There's no merit here. There's just this natural recognition of brothers and sisters in Christ. The body of Christ is precious to me. It's precious to you. And we care for the body. That's all it is. That's all he's saying here. So what is of essence to Christ is a sort of relationship we have with him and his friends. I'm trying to make it as simple as I can. Yes, he says, come into my kingdom. I knew you. You knew me. You had a relationship with me. And you loved me and you loved my people. Religion, and godliness are easily faked, but not very easily faked when it comes to these things. James 1.27 puts it in very clear tones. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted. from the world. So brothers and sisters, just to make this simple for you, love the person in front of you. That's what Jesus did. She was right in front of him, below him on the cross. He looked down and he saw her and he said, oh, it's my mother. And he realized somebody needs to care for my mother because I'm not going to be around. And so he signed it to John. Brothers and sisters, love the person right in front of you. Love the parents that God gave you. Honor the parents God gave you. Love the widows that God placed right here in this church in Elbert County. Modern Christians are tempted to run out and find another set. Another set of parents, another church body, other brothers and sisters. perhaps more lovable ones than the ones that are in front of you. Don't do this. Love the mother that God put in front of you. Love the saints that God brought into your life. Amen. Let's pray. Father in heaven, O God, we thank you. We thank you for the great work of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. We're so amazed at His love. We're amazed at His love for you, His love for your commandments, God. We're so thankful for his obedience. Father, we're so thankful for his love for Mary, because his love for Mary was indicative of his love for us. And Father, we pray that we, as the body of Christ, would love as Christ loved. Oh Jesus, there's no place we'd rather be than with you. We would abide in your word. We would abide at your feet with the other Mary. We would abide. with you as we serve the widows, those in prison, those in need, because that's where you are, Jesus. We just wanna be where you are. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You may be seated. Now we've come to the Lord's table this morning. I realize we've had a number of different events, special events this morning, so I don't want to starve your children to death. See, I'm as concerned about their physical needs Well, maybe not as much as you are, but... Let's come to the Lord's table now and remember again our Savior there at the cross. This is a time of remembrance. It's a time of communion. It's a time to come into fellowship with the living Christ. We trust the Holy Spirit for His outpouring and His bringing of the life of Christ to us. But now the point I want to make is that Christ at the cross was concerned. That's the main thing I want you to take away with today. I understand we went to the doctrinal, the theological, the practical, but I want you to take away this one thing that Christ, our Savior, while suffering on the cross, was concerned for Mary's well-being. And in like manner, He is concerned for me and for you. He's concerned. He cares. God cares for you and for me. God, the creator of all things, the one who we have offended by our own sin, God is concerned. God cares. God is emotionally, God is personally, intimately wrapped up in his concern for me and for you. That's the thing to remember. That's the point. I think this passage drives home more than anything else. God is concerned for our souls. In fact, there's so much passion in the Psalms and the Prophets. I'm actually studying the Psalms and the Prophets in my devotional life right now, and there is so much passion and concern. It's just I have a hard time even getting into it. You think I get a little bit passionate? Nothing compared to the passion of God for His redemption of His people. It is phenomenal. God concerned. He keeps track of your tossings and turnings. He's put your tears in His bottle. Psalm 58. Every hair on your head is counted. which by the way comes out to 150,000 if you're blonde. It's like 120,000 if you're brunette. I don't know why. But God is counting all the hairs on your head. And he knows how many hairs there were yesterday and today. And brothers and sisters, who takes the time? How long would it take you to count? Go ahead, brother, go ahead. Go ahead, start working at it. Think about 150,000 hairs. Ten days? That's concern. Isn't that concern? I want you to get the sense of how concerned God is for us. He counts your hairs. He keeps track of your tears every day. It's a beautiful thing. It's a beautiful thing. While we were without strength, Christ was concerned for us. And He died for us, even more concerned than we were for ourselves. He comes to search for one lost sheep because He's concerned for us. Even when we were dead in sins, He was concerned for us. And He gave His life. By grace, you are saved. He says, I seek out my sheep and will deliver them. I will feed them in a good pasture. I will seek that which was lost, and I will bring again that which was driven away. I will bind up that which was broken. I will strengthen that which was sick. I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them with judgment, and the good shepherd will give his life for his sheep. That's a lot of concern for one's sheep. It's a lot of concern. He's concerned for us, and He gave His life for us, and He shares His life with us today at this table. I don't know anybody who shares their blood and their flesh with others. Jesus does. He shares His blood and His flesh with others because it's in His body, it's in His body, His flesh and blood, where we receive His life. That's generosity, that's love, that's concern, that's care. He wants us to live, and that's why he gave his life for us and shares it with us now. Amen, let's pray. Father, as we come to this table, we're so thankful for the life of Christ. We're so thankful, Father, for your concern for us, that you so cared for us, that you went to search out for the lost sheep. and you went to the mountains wild and you went through all the brush and you finally found that sheep and then the shepherd, the good shepherd laid down His life for His sheep. Father, the concern, the love, the focus that our Lord had for His mother Mary while He was hanging there on the cross is just indicative of His concern and His care for us in all of our physical needs for our eternal life and for our spiritual life. Father, we praise You. We glory in this love. We bask for a moment in this love that we have been so loved, that we have been so much a matter of concern of God, our Creator, the One who has adopted us into His family and sent His Son to die for us. That's concern. That's a lot of concern. We praise you, Father. We take this cup, we take this bread as those who know the concern, the love of God for ourselves. Now we pray by your Spirit that we live the life of Christ and love one another too. In Jesus' name, amen.