IT IS NOT GOOD TO GO ALONG WITH THE CROWD

PROCLAMATION

“Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them.  He had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified.”  Mark 15:15 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, according to Mark, a companion Simon Peter.  After He was seized and arrested, Jesus was taken before the chief priests and the Sanhedrin council. (Mark 14:53)  They condemned Him to death and had the guards take Him to Pilate. (Mark 14:64-65 and 15:1)  With all of the accusations against Him from the chief priests, Jesus did not defend Himself before Pilate. (Mark 15:2-5)  Finding no fault in Him, (Luke 23:4) Pilate was going to release Jesus, but the crowd said, “Crucify Him!” and release Barabbas. (Mark 15:6-14)  In order to please the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas and ordered that Jesus be flogged and crucified. (Mark 15:15)  Pilate tried to absolve himself of the blood of Jesus by washing his hands before the crowd, but he gave in to the crowd's request and ordered Him to be crucified. (Matthew 27:24)

 

APPLICATION

Doing things to please the crowd is rarely a good thing.  It is never good to go against your own principles in order to please the crowd.  Just because “everyone is doing it” does not mean that it is a good thing to do.  Going along with the crowd, especially for the sake of popularity, usually leads to bad outcomes. (Matthew 7:13)  It is not possible to please man and to please God at the same time, we must choose one or the other. (Matthew 6:24 and Luke 16:13)  It is better to stand alone on The Word of God and walk God’s way than it is to be accepted by a worldly crowd. (Matthew 7:14)

 

THEY DID EVIL IN THE EYES OF THE LORD

PROCLAMATION

“But Omri did evil in the eyes of The Lord and sinned more than all those before him.  He followed completely the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebet, committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, so that they aroused the anger of The Lord, The God of Israel, by their worthless idols.”  1 Kings 16:25-26 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

Baasha, king of the northern tribes of Israel, did evil in the eyes of The Lord following in the sinful ways of Jeroboam worshiping idols (1 Kings 15:33-34) and so did his son, Elah who succeeded him as king.  Then Zimri, one of Elah’s officials, killed Elah and succeeded him as king. (1 Kings 16:9-10)  As king, Zimri killed off Baasha’s whole family (1 Kings 16:11) but the Israelites rejected him as king and proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army, as their king. (1 Kings 16:16)  Then Zimri killed himself by setting the palace on fire when he saw that the Israeli army had seized the city. (1 Kings 16:16-19)  However, Omri also did evil in the eyes of The Lord.  When he died his son, Ahab, became king and he did even more evil in the eyes of The Lord than all of those before him, and his wife, Jezebel, who worshiped Baal, was just as bad as he was, if not worse. (1 Kings 16:29-31)  Asa, king of Judah, was the only king during this time who did right in the eyes of The Lord.

APPLICATION

The world is full of men who do not follow the ways of The Lord.  There are also many leaders who have led the people away for the ways of The Lord.  Every leader is not a man of God.  In order for us not to get caught up in a cult or follow some leader who is not of The Lord God, we need to pray, read, and study The Word of God.  That is the only way that we can verify that we have heard is true and that we are going God’s way.  Following ungodly leaders will lead us to damnation.  We cannot follow The Word of God if we do not know it.

DO NOT COPY THE LOST SINNERS OF THE WORLD

Proclamation:

“So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.  They said to him, ‘You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.’”  1 Samuel 8:4-5 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the prophet Samuel.  When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons to lead and judge Israel. (1 Samuel 8:1)  However, Samuel was a prophet of The Lord God (1 Samuel 3:19-21) but his sons did not follow his ways. (1 Samuel 8:2-3)  So the elders of Israel got together and told Samuel to appoint a king to be over them so that they could be like the other nations around them.  Having The Lord God as their king was not good enough for them.  They wanted to copy the sinful nations around them.  Samuel was displeased with them for this request (1 Samuel 8:6) but The Lord God told him that the people had rejected God as their King, not Samuel as their leader. (1 Samuel 8:7)

Application:

When you have the best, why would you want to copy something less?  Why would we want to imitate the sinful people of the world when we know where they will end up? (Revelation 20:15)  As believers we have The Holy Spirit of God within us (Ezekiel 11:19 and 36:26-27) and therefore we are not of this world. (John 8:33)  We are to behave in a Christ-like manner. (Romans 6:4 and 6:11)  It is Christ that we are to imitate and not the sinful people of the world.