I'm glad to be back with all of you today..
While I enjoyed my time off with my family and studying the Word of God
I missed all of you!
Did you miss me too?
(smiling)
Dear Heavenly Father,
We pray that You would reveal to us any unconfessed sin in our hearts. We confess our sins before You and we thank You because You will be faithful and just and will forgive us. Lord, we pray that You would purify us from all unrighteousness.
Holy Spirit, we welcome Your presence today in this place, help us in the areas where we fall short of what You expect from each of us!
In Jesus name, we ask and pray
Amen
"But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors."
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
And they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors."
I recall walking home one day, it was just an ordinary day
when I saw a kid, from my class, who was also walking home from school.
His name was Eddie.
It looked like he was carrying all of his books.
I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday?
He must really be a some kind of nerd."
As I continued walking, I saw a bunch of bigger kids running toward him.
They charged at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him
so he landed face down in the dirt.
His glasses went flying, and I saw they had landed in the grass, several feet
from where he lay.
He looked up and I saw this confusion and terrible sadness in his eyes.
My heart really went out to him.
So, I ran over to him and as he crawled
around feeling for his glasses, and as I got closer, I saw a tear in his eye.
As I handed him his broken glasses, I said, "Those guys are really jerks.
They should just get lives."
"He just looked at me and just said, "Hey thanks!"
There was kind of smile on his face...
It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude.
I helped him pick up all of his books, and asked him where he lived.
As it turned out, he lived pretty close to me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
He said he had previously gone to another school, that his family was having some financial difficulties and so they had just moved to stay with relatives until they got back on their feet.
The truth is, I probably would have never hung out with this kid before anyway.
But we continued to talk all the way home, and I helped carry some of his books.
He turned out to be a pretty cool kid.
I asked him, if he wanted to hang out some time with my friends and I, and He said yes.
We hung out the next weekend and the more I got to know Eddie, the more I liked him, and most of my friends thought the same of him.
Monday morning came, and there was Eddie carrying the huge stack of books again.
I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles carrying this pile of books everyday!
"He just laughed and handed me half the books.
Over the next few years, Eddie and I became best friends.
We often talked about what we wanted to be in life,
Eddie always said that he was going to be a preacher.
I wanted to go into acting, since I had always enjoyed being in the school plays.
I teased him all the time about being a nerd, he teased me about being a dreamer.
But we knew that we would be friends for a long time..
He was one of those guys that really found himself during the later years of school.
He filled out and actually looked good in glasses, he was confident.
He had more friends, more dates than I had and everyone loved him.
Boy, sometimes I was jealous.
Today was one of those days.
He was going to give a speech at his church and was really nervous
So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you've got this! You'll be great!"
He gave me with one of those looks, the really grateful kind and
smiled and asked me if I'd like to come and hear him speak, for moral support.
So I agreed to go.
As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and soon began talking.
"Everyone has a time in their life, when they want to thank those who helped you make it through those tough times in your life..
For some of you, maybe it's your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but for me, it was mostly my best friend..
I am here to tell all of you that being a true friend to someone, is the best gift you can give them.
Today, I am going to tell you my story."
I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the
first day that we had met.
As he continued, he began to talk about how he had planned to kill himself that weekend.
He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his mom wouldn't have to do it later and that's he was carrying his all of his stuff home that day.
He stared hard at me for a moment and then gave me a smile.
"But thankfully, I was saved.
My best friend saved me from doing the unspeakable."
You could hear a pin drop, as he continued his story..
Until I heard the gasps go through the crowd as this handsome, popular kid told us all about his weakest moment in his life, when he planned to take his own life.
I saw his Mom, dad and sister looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.
It was not until that moment did I realize it's depth...
I just want to say to all of you, never underestimate the power of your actions!
One small, seemingly unimportant gesture on your part, can change a person's entire life.
For better or for worse...
I truly believe, that God puts us all in each other's lives, for a reason!
To impact one another lives, in some way..
The key is to learn to recognize those opportunities..
Even though we may not always fully realize its impact at the time.
I've decided to call today's message: The Sinners Best Friend.
There is a vague notion in the world that the benefit of Jesus Christ’s passion is only for good people. The teaching of some theologians, would lead some uninstructed people to imagine that Christ came to this world to save those who were already righteous and to call the already godly to repentance, and to heal those who were never sick.
Church, This is ludicrous!
Not to mention, a heinous crime against the Kingdom of God and one of hell's greatest deceptions.
Most unbelievers already struggle with the idea that they will never be good enough to measure up to God’s Holy standards.
Most sincere people, who know anything about God recognize the fact that God is a righteous God and that His very nature demands holiness from His creation.
However, in most cases, those same people, seemingly have not come to realize that God has made provision for the lost and unholy.
Aren't you and I glad He did?
Amen!
The Cross of Calvary is a bridge!
A bridge that starts on the lowest pits of hell and bridges over to the highest shores of Heaven!
And without this bridge, you and I could never get to the other side.
Can I get a witness?
The sinner often becomes troubled and alarmed at their first experience with Holy Spirit conviction.
However, when you as the sinner begin to realize that Jesus is your best friend, then there is incredible comfort in knowing that fact!
I'VE GOT A NEWS FLASH FOR SOME OF THOSE "HOLIER THAN THOU CHRISTIANS.. "
JESUS CHRIST IS ENROLLED AMONG SINNERS: SINNERS ARE HIS BUSINESS!
Jesus was numbered with the transgressors.
That is why Jesus was put to death: the self-righteous Pharisees condemned Jesus to die because they thought He committed blasphemy by claiming to be the Great I AM, Almighty God. They would have been right if it had been anybody else, but the real Messiah was living among them and they failed to even recognize who He was!
He was numbered with them, first, in the census of the Roman empire. There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed, and the espoused wife of Joseph, being great with child, must travel to Bethlehem that Christ may be born there, and that he may be numbered with the transgressing people who, for their sins, were subject to the Roman yoke.
As the years went on, and that child who had been earlier numbered with transgressors, and had received the seal of transgression in the circumcision, which represents the putting away of the flesh, that child, having now come into manhood, goes forth into the world and is numbered with transgressors.
Public opinion at the time about Jesus of Nazareth was mixed, but there was a percentage of the public who called him all sorts of bad names. Jesus was considered by some to be an outcast.
But to make the matter still more forcible, "he was numbered with transgressors in the courts of law." The ecclesiastical court of Judaism, the Sanhedrim, said of him, "Thou blasphemest;" and they smote him on the cheek. Written down among the offenders against the dignity of God against the security of the Jewish Church, you find the name of Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified.
Pilate may have washed his hands and said, “I find no fault in this man” but public opinion was so negative against Jesus that it forced Pilate to give into their wishes and write in a mocking way: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews;" and he gives him up to die as a malefactor who has rebelled against the sovereign law of the land. Herod, too, the Jewish tetrarch, confirms the sentence, and so, with two pens at the same time, Jesus Christ is recorded by the civil leaders among transgressors.
Then, the Jewish people numbered him with transgressors. They reprobated him as a more abominable transgressor than a thief and a murderer who had excited rebellion. Barabbas is put in competition with Christ, and they said, "Not this man, but Barabbas."
Jesus bears the transgressor's scourging!
He is tied to the whipping-post, his back is beaten, marred and scarred; the ploughers make deep furrows, and His blood flows in streams. He is numbered with transgressors, because He bears the felon's cross; He comes into the street bowed down with the weight of His own cross, which he must carry upon his raw and bleeding shoulders; He trudges along to the place of doom; He comes to Calvary; Golgotha, the place of a skull and there, hoisted upon the cross, hanging in mid-air, as if earth rejected Him and heaven refused Him shelter, He dies the humiliating death of the cross, and is numbered with transgressors.
Where are the protestors? Where are those who have compassion for Him?
Will anyone declare his innocence?
It turns out that they are all silent!
Jesus' sentence is carried unanimously. Jew and Gentile, bond and free, they are all there.
They mock; they laugh; they cry, "Let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him." His name is written in the calendar of crime by the whole universe; for he is despised and rejected of men. He is counted to be the off-scouring of all things, and is put to grief.
Where is Heaven while all of this is going on?
Is this justified in the eyes of Heaven?
It is and it is confirmed by the fact that in order to be the Best Friend of every single sinner for all of time, Jesus had to do this:
"These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. These things I command you, that you love one another.
The World’s Hatred
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates Me hates My Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’"John 15:11-25
In closing....
Jesus gave His life because He is The Sinner’s Best Friend and we were all sinners.
Some of you here today may need the Savior for the first time in your life and that's okay.
Because I can tell you friend, from my heart...
You can search this whole world over by train, plane, car or boat or any other means you choose and you will not find a greater friend then Jesus Christ of Nazereth!
That’s right!
I can save you all that searching and travel expenses right now...
You can put your money in your pocket or keep in the bank and realize that Almighty God has a glorious plan for your salvation, a plan for your life that is more peaceful, more fulfilling, satisfying, more enjoyable, and with greater reward than you could ever imagine possible!
If you'll just invite Him in your life, today, it all lies just ahead of you!
All the pain, burdens, disappointment and heartbreak, you've learned to live with will all be taken from you.
You'll have a best friend, One always beside you, Who will never abandon you, hurt you and will carry those burdens for you!
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Brian Monzon Ministries