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I, I'd like to read a passage from Matthew 27 and share some thoughts that have weighed heavily upon me for quite some time. I'll pick up in verse 30. This is after the arrest of Jesus during his persecution was to say by pilot and the soldiers, it says, and they spit upon him and took the reed and smote him on the head. And after that, they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him and put his own raiment on him and led him away to crucify him. And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene Simon by name him, they compelled to bear his cross. And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha , that is to say a place of a skull. They gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall. And when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink and they crucified him and parted his garments, casting lots that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by the prophet. They parted my garments among them and upon my vester did they cast lots and sitting down, they watched him there and set up over his head. His accusation written, this is Jesus, the king of the Jews. Then were their two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and another on the left. And they that passed by, reviled him, wagging their heads and saying thou that destroys the temple and builds it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God come down from the cross. Likewise, also the chief priests mocking him with the scribes and elders said, he saved others himself. He cannot save. If he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross and we will believe him, he trusted in God, let him deliver him. Now, if he will have him for, he said, I am the son of God. Now I want to go back through this in reverse order. Isn't it interesting? That pilot was so intent on posting a sign on the cross that said, this is Jesus , the king of the Jews. And the Pharisees asked him not to do that. They vehemently denied that he was their king. They said that Caesar was their king. But pilot insisted on posting this. Pilate asked Jesus if he was a king. And Jesus gave a compelling response. He said, if my kingdom were of this world , my servants, my subjects would fight for me and protect me from the Jews, but they haven't done that. So it's interesting that that pilot was so intent on posting this sign. Meanwhile, Jesus was in a place where he was surrounded by thieves who were crucified as well. And then the people that that came by. So the the soldiers mocked him, they mocked him uh with the crown of thorns and the robe and the people passing by mocked him. And the chief priest did the same. And all of these people, they all referred to expectations they had that they claimed would prove to them that Jesus was, in fact the Son of God and the king of Israel. So it's interesting that on the one hand, the evidence that was provided was completely ignored. On the other hand, each group of people created their own criteria that they claimed would be required for them to acknowledge Jesus as the son of God and the king of Israel. And then on top of that, the tokens, let's say of Messiah of kingship, the robe, the crown of thorns, the sign placed on the cross. All of these things were mockery. They were not sincere. My question is how much of modern Christianity is the true tokens and signs of being like Jesus by suffering for the sake of others, by being falsely accused, by being punished and persecuted for being like God. And how much of it is open mockery of signs that say the king of the Jews of crowns of thorns of robes that are borrowed and taken away after they serve their purpose of if this were true. Then I would believe when it's a complete lie because they wouldn't believe, sorry, they wouldn't believe if those things were provided. You see the Hallmark of irrational and dishonest people. A Hallmark is to claim that if certain things were different, then they would believe. But that is also a lie. Those who don't believe sufficient signs are very unlikely to believe additional signs. Those who do not accept God's criteria for evidence are very unlikely to believe when someone fulfills their criteria for evidence. Does this make sense? Maybe it's a big deal. There is so much information in the details of the Lord's final hours on life and I'm just barely scratching the surface on a few things. And all of that is just a set up for what I really wanna talk about, which is what we started with. Uh No, we're not talking about being spat on or beaten with this read. Although those are also very important ideas, events, they're not just ideas, events, there's meaning in that read, there's meaning in the spit. God is so great that he orchestrates. Even for the elements of people persecuting him, testifying of him. You you gotta understand when the Lord, when he says all things testify of me, he was not exaggerating or joking. If you wanna understand reality, start asking the question. If you wanna understand something, ask yourself, how does this demonstrate something about Jesus about the character of God about his love because that is his fundamental attribute. And you will be shocked at how much he teaches you. Anyway, we're not going to talk about the spit or the read or being hit on the head. Let's just keep going. The, the part I'd like to talk about or the road being put on and taken off. I wanna talk about Simon, the man from Cyrene. It says that they compelled him to bear the cross of Jesus. Jesus was whipped and beaten before he had to carry the cross. And so it was quite an ordeal for him. It would be an ordeal for a person under normal circumstances. But those whips, they cut deep into his skin, they actually flayed the flesh. When the whip landed, the skin broke open and it cut into, deep into the muscle, deep deep into the muscle. He was, he was wrecked by the time it was time to walk to where they were going to crucify him. He was just covered in blood. So as far as this Simon goes, it's a different Simon than the Apostle. There are stories I looked it up at, at one point , there are stories about this guy, but there's really nothing much known about him. And I guess apocryphally, he became a believer which would suggest he wasn't one before. But this is all external speculation. It's not here in the text, but I've thought a lot about this guy because as we read the gospels . It's good to put ourselves in this, in the place of various people and truthfully ask ourselves if we would have acted differently and to ask what, what should someone have done in that situation and then to fix ourselves if we need to. And there's a lot that we need to fix in this case. I've wondered if I were in the crowd, would they have needed to get this guy? In other words, what kind of force would have, what they have needed to use against you if you were there as the Lord was walking by? Because you would have pushed through to try to help him, even if they killed you. So notably, none of the 12 were compelled to bear his cross. Does that mean that they weren't there not specifically from this part of the text? It, it doesn't say that right? We could go other places, but let's keep this focused. But that was not Simon the Apostle. You're Simon from Cyrene. Isn't it interesting that in the Lord's calculus that there was another Simon who may have been a complete stranger that came and carried the cross that supported Jesus in one of his hardest moments. And, and my question is, would I have volunteered for that um, from time to time in the early mornings, one of the, one of the things that happens, it's not every day. Sometimes I slip into a review of the day before. And the Lord's got something to tell me about that. And he'll show me situations where he would have done differently than I did. And on the one hand, uh I couldn't be more grateful for the education because I truly, I want to know so I can do. But it is uh it is deeply troubling to learn, to learn something about for good. That was left undone because it's always connected to people. And when you see what could have happened, it's heartbreaking. And then you resolve to integrate, immediately integrate what he's showing you. So that if anything like that ever happens, you'll, you'll be, you'll be closer to what he would do in your place. And once again, remain fully reconciled to him because you will do everything as far as you understand, he would do. So on one occasion I saw uh a situation that happened the day before and I was, I was bent over tending a fire in the wood stove. I was building a fire or extending. I don't know what I was doing, but I was nursing a fire and one of my sons who's who, who does something like this on a pretty regular basis. Um He was walking by on his way to something else and he noticed me and he said that can I help you? And I said, yeah, uh go get that whatever, just, just sort of utilitarian. Let's get this done as I would speak to my own self. If I were cloned, you know, let's get this mission done. And as the Lord was showing me this, he became me and I became my son . Well, so I saw Jesus hunched over attending this fire and I was walking by and I said, can I help you? And he turned and he smiled. But when Jesus smiles, uh I don't know how anyone could describe what that's like because it's not about what you see. It's about what beams from Him. The Lord's joy. There is, there's nothing more valuable to experience. There's nothing greater that I know of. And in the vision, I was so shocked, but I didn't have a chance to think what's the big deal because I realized he showed me this scene with the cross. He, he showed me some other things that he went through and some things that I've been through and God has this ability to teach you a life of lessons in the blink of an eye. He, he is quite the teacher and the communicator where you go. It's possible to go from completely ignorant about a topic to mm able to give the, to being able to give the, the most extensive and persuasive lecture ever given on that topic and he can do it like that. So you go from being completely ignorant when this happens to somehow through the quickening of the Holy Ghost being the teacher yourself. It's God in you. And it's almost like you divide into the ignoramus and the teacher and every question you ask, it's immediately answered. And it's just this vacuuming up of, of unification to a higher plane. And he showed me and this, this has happened on several occasions where something like this, what I'm about to say, not the rest, but what I'm about to say has happened . He opened my, my senses, my heart, my eyes, it's been my ears before where I've heard things to experience this life from the con from a heavenly context to re experience something that has already happened in this life from a heavenly context. I spoke about this in a different story where I was, I was uh sharing how he showed me flashes from across my whole life again in a split second and I was there and it was even more real than when it really happened. That was the fullness of the experience was so intense, but my senses were totally different and it was like, I could, I could see here and feel so far beyond what we can hear. And on that occasion, beyond seeing indescribable beauty in all the things that you would just walk by. And I would too, before that, I hope I'm at least a little better now. But the what I heard the whole time, the the site, the smell, the sound, OK, I'll give you an example so you can understand it uh, I went to basic training in, in Fort Jackson, South Carolina and there are a lot of pine trees down there. And I remember vividly they have a particular smell in the, in, in the summertime when it's hot and it gets hot when the breeze blows through the trees to feel that momentary relief from the heat, especially if you're marching in columns of, who knows how many hundreds of people there's dust everywhere. It's just gross. And you haven't showered in a week when that breeze hits you that momentary relief and the scent of the pines and the beautiful sun in the green. It's I think noticeable for most people. It would be hopefully, I don't know, maybe I was the only one there who noticed of itself. But when he turned that and quicken my senses and then gave me the experience again to experience it with uh new eyes and ears and heart and knows everything was so amplified. And when I smelled the pines and when I saw the light and when I felt the breeze, I heard the Lord say again and again, he just kept saying I love you. It's, it was what he was saying through all that and not as figuratively as that sounds like that was literally the message of the breeze blowing and the scent of the pine trees because he's in and through all things, all things testify of Christ and God is love. So back to the fire, the wood stove story, we were reversed and Jesus was at the wood stove and I was my son. And he turned, I said, can I help? And he turned and the, the, the tedium of his work, it completely stopped. And he beamed this smile and it wasn't like AAA vacuous happy smile. It was, uh it was such a deep relief smile because everything, all the tedium had stopped and he said, you already have. And in that moment we switched back and he gave me the, the quickening to re experience the same thing that had actually happened the day before. And when I, I don't even know if I looked at my son when he said, can I help? I was probably just fiddling with the fire. And I said, yeah, when I said, yeah, I saw that whole experience again and I felt it and I knew that I had it, it my scope obviously, but I had that same joy that that should have been exactly the same as far as what I felt. And it was, but it, you see in mortality, the weight of what we value it by default, it's completely messed up. If you imagine an equalizer. If you've ever messed with one of those for radio, stereo or color settings, if you're a photographer and you do digital photography, whatever. If you imagine those, this, we have those in our value system, what we value and by how much and it's completely messed up. It's not correct, it's incorrect and incomplete. And what happens is when you die and you're resurrected, you get a new preset on that and it retroactively revises all of the joy that you had in your life. It goes through this filter and some things are boosted and some things are diminished and some things appear and some things disappear and there's a whole lot that needs to be said about that, but I'm not going into it right now. And so I saw that I did have that joy, that level of joy to say you already have. I already felt that. But it was so tiny compared to what seemed like I've got to get this done right? I'm in the midst of this. Of course, you can help me . What else would you do? Right. And I felt ashamed because I don't know how I would have known that, but I knew what he had missed out on because I wasn't more. So I didn't feel guilty, but I had a tremendous feeling of wishing that I could have been more so that he could have experienced more. And I thought what an example that would have been for him. No, not of his father because who cares about him, but his father in heaven because I could have made it easier for him to know that aspect of Jesus. So let's get back to this cross. I think that a lot of people might say, a lot of Christians might say that they would have bounced out of the crowd and get beaten down by the Romans because they would have, that's what they would have needed to do to keep them from helping Jesus. And I don't believe you at all. I don't believe you at all. Now, why, why would I say something so disagreeable or pretend to have such confidence in that statement? Because they're not pretending because the, the evidence is there, what is the equivalent of that in your life? I mean, what things have you already faced in your life that were just like that? And you didn't bother to ask Jesus, can I help you? Have you ever asked that when you're praying? How many prayers have you offered in your life? How many times have you asked him for something? And how many times have you asked him if you could help him? How many times have you asked him for what you want? And how many times have you asked him for what he wants? And not like in the, tell me what you want, even though I kind of already know because I need more strength to do what you want. I mean, because you really wanted to help him a priori my son said, can I help you? And he meant he really meant it. I have already assumed that I'm going to stop whatever it was I was doing because I see you working and now your work is more important than whatever I was doing. And I didn't know you were working because I would have come and helped you sooner. But now that I see it, tell me how I can help. Do you see that? How it's different, how different it is. When did you do that last? Have you ever done that? Maybe you have? But do you do it often? Could you do it often? You could, should you do it often? You should, will you do it often? Now lest you think that this is some high standard that I'm preaching the impossible that God would never expect us to do that. That , that what he wanted was for people to sit on the sidelines and say, oh shame, this is terrible or maybe cry a little instead of busting through there and helping. Let's go over to Matthew five. And I don't know if you've ever thought about this this way. When we read these verses, we attach them to how we ought to treat people who are bad. You have heard that it hath been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you that ye resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other. Also, I'm telling you one of the most important fulfillment of these admonitions, these commandments. It's not just so that we treat bad people. Well, it is a watertight protection against treating good people poorly. I'm gonna say that again. These commandments in the sermon on the mount, they're not just about treating bad people. Well, they are a lock tight protection against treating good people poorly. You think that you will recognize a good person as a good person. You are wrong because many people better than you failed to recognize Jesus as a good person. And he was the best person that there ever was or ever will be to expect that you will recognize a very good person as such is to believe that you are significantly better. Then a lot of good people in the New Testament and maybe you are, it's possible someone could be right. But if you're gonna believe that you better have some reasons like doing all the good things that they did. That's a good starter. I want you to think about how much differently the people who mistreated Jesus, how much differently they would have acted if they followed these instructions in terms of Jesus. Mm. I want you to think about how much differently all of us would act if we follow these commandments, not just with our enemies, but with God, Jesus commanded us to do these things with the worst people. How much more should it be true of our behavior towards God already read, whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek. Turn to him, the other also resist not evil. And if any man will soothe thee at the law and take away thy coat. Let him have thy cloak also and whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him Twain. Give to him that asth thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. There's a, a gal who I know used to read stuff that I write. I watch some of these videos. Uh She has been very kind to abide by my request that married women not contact me without seeing their husband just to prevent any sort of misunderstanding or dodgy anything. And so I haven't heard from her in quite a while. So if she's still watching, how's it going? I hope you're doing great. But this lady once before that rule, she told me a story about how she had, um she lost a baby. And uh she, she shared some of that pain with me in her story and she said that there was a time where she just shouted at God and uh she worked through that and she's in a better place now. But I share that because it's actually not unusual at all for people to come into places in their life where they really do feel like God is treating them badly. They long for something that they truly believe is righteous that they truly believe they deserve. They don't understand why they don't have it. They had something that they thought that they were grateful for and they would have forever and, and they lost it. They're being unjustly treated by other people, whatever the case may be. And if we apply these instructions, it prevents, it completely protects us from leaving the, the, the situation where God can flow to us, the greatest possible blessings. It prevents us from narrowing the window of receipt from shutting the windows of heaven because we're wide open. And so when you feel that God is smiting you on the right cheek, you turn to him the other. Also, if Jesus, if you're alive 2000 years ago, and Jesus comes and he calls you a dog, you say you don't get mad, you don't get crazy, you don't get offended, you just immediately turn it back and you say, don't the dogs get the crumbs off the table and we could go down this list and give you more examples from his life. If you find yourself, if you find the, the blessings that you believe that you've righteously obtained, I won't say earned. But you know, if you find that sun, if you find them suddenly taken away, do you get upset, angry, anxious or like job started saying, do you say the Lord gives and the Lord takes away and blessed be the name of the Lord? If you feel like you're in a hard place in your life and you're struggling do you pray for God to take you out of that trial or do you go with Him Twain? Do you continue to follow Him into the unbounded darkness where He can really show you His light? Because it shines in the darkness. That's where it shines. We could keep going with this. But I think you get the drift if we're meant to love our enemies and this is how we love our enemies. How much more should we love God? And should we expect that to look different? Or is it gonna feel like these same things if we're meant to bless those who curse us? How much more should we bless God who loves us? We meant to do good to those who hate us. How much more should we do good to the one who only does good to us no matter what it seems like in the moment if we pray for those who despite use us and persecute us, how much more should we pray for our hearts and our actions to be used by God? Not for spite, but to show his love to other people. Jesus said that we should do these things so that we can be the Children of our father, which is in heaven, to be the child of a king is to be an heir to the throne. And I wanna tell you something very important and we will end here . Jesus came to show us how the father is on the canvas of mortal life. Yes, he did. The things that His father would do. He said the things his father would say the crown of thorns is the mortal demonstration of the crown of glory. And the cross is the mortal demonstration of the throne of God. So when God compels you to walk with Him for a mile, you walk with Him as far as He permits you to. And if you find yourself in a place where you have an out, you beg Him to let you just stay because that's what you'll do if you understand any of this even a little because it's a tremendous privilege of all the people watching that day. One person was given the opportunity to help Jesus. 12 people were invited and none of them came and the one that showed up may well have had nothing to do with Jesus before that. So think about that the next time you find yourself in a, what seems like a hard time.