Tonight we're turning to Matthew's Gospel and the chapter 27. Matthew's Gospel and the chapter number 27. We'll read a number of verses at the commencement of the chapter and then we'll enter or come down to a number of other verses. And so we'll begin at the opening verse of Matthew chapter 27. Let's hear God's word. When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death. When they had bound him, they led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor. Now let's go to the verse 11. Between verse two and the verse 11, Judas Iscariot goes before the chief priests and brings back the money that he had betrayed the Savior for. They do not want it, and so he throws it down, and he goes and he hangs himself, and they buy with that money the potter's field in fulfillment of prophetic scripture. But the Lord Jesus Christ has been delivered to Pontius Pilate the governor, and verse 11 says, and Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, saying, the king of the Jews. Jesus said unto him, thou sayest, when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word, insomuch that the governor marveled greatly. Now at that feast, the governor was wanted to release onto the people a prisoner whom they would. And they had then a notable prisoner called Barabbas. Therefore, when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, whom will ye that I release unto you, Barabbas or Jesus, which is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. When he was set down in the judgment seat, his wife said unto him, saying, Have I nothing to do with that just man? For I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask for rabbits and destroy Jesus. The governor answered and said unto them, Whither of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I then do with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. Pilate saw that he could reveal nothing, but that rather a chillment was made. He took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it. Then answered all the people and said, His blood be upon us and on our children. Then released he Barabbas unto them. When he had scourged Jesus, He delivered him to be crucified. Amen. And we'll end our reading at the end of the verse number 26. Let's again unite, please, in a word of prayer before God's word is preached this evening. Let's pray. Our heavenly Father, in the Savior's precious name, we gather again around thy word. We pray that thou wilt minister to our souls. Grant, dear Father, help in the preaching of the gospel. We thank thee that it is the power of God on to salvation. And we pray that that will be the case tonight, that some individual will experience God's power in the gospel, a power that delivers from sin and from the ignorance from the bondage and from the death that the sinner is in. Grant, therefore, the help, the anointing, and the unction of the Holy Ghost, dear God, tonight in the preaching of thy word. Glorify thy son. We offer prayer in and through the Savior's precious name. Amen and amen. Have you washed your hands If your home is anything like our home, that question will have been asked hundreds of times since COVID-19 took a hold of our nation. Government officials, backed up by medical scientists, have advised us that washing our hands with soap and water often, for at least 20 seconds, is one of the most effective ways that we can reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The World Health Organization has produced a 10-step plan on how to wash our hands properly. We are to wet our hands with water in the first instance and then apply enough soap to cover all hand surfaces. Then we are to rub our hands, palm to palm. Then right hand over left dorsum with interlaced fingers and vice versa. Then palm to palm with fingers interlaced. Then backs of fingers to opposing palms with fingers interlocked. Then the rotational rubbing of the left thumb and the right palm and vice versa. Then rotational rubbing backwards and forwards with clasped fingers of the right hand and the left hand and vice versa. Then we are to rinse our hands with water, then thoroughly dry with a single-use towel, and then finally use that towel to turn off the tap. If all 10 steps are completed as they should be, we are told that our hands are now safe and free from the virus. Not wanting to get into the science of why hand-washing with soap is so effective in killing the virus, I am told that the soap molecules, the soap molecules are similar to the ones making up the outer layer of the virus. The molecules in the lipid bilayer are as strongly attracted to soap molecules as they are to each other. And so this hand-washing with soap disrupts the nuclei-ordered shell around the virus, dissolving it and running water. readiness of the virus. We've all become expert hand washers during this pandemic. The problem now is that our hands are suffering from so much hand washing because the natural oils in our hands have been extracted. I've said all I have said by way of introduction because in this chapter of God's Word we find a man who involved himself in this activity of hand-washing. That man's name was Pontius Pilate. In Matthew chapter 27 in the verse 24 we read, when Pilate saw that he could reveal nothing but rather that a chillment was made, he took water. washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it." In this gospel meeting, I want us to consider the events surrounding, I would dare say, the most famous hand wash that has ever been conducted by an individual in this world. And I want to do that in a gospel message that I've entitled, The Man Who Washed His Hands, But Not His Heart. The Man Who Washed His Hands, But Not His Heart. Now you will know from our reading here in Matthew chapter 27, that the Savior is in the final 24 hours of his earthly ministry. By sunset, his body would be taken down from a cross and placed in a tomb, shewn out of a rock with a stone placed over its mouth. For this hour, he came into the world. He came to die for sinners. Now for Scripture to be fulfilled, the Son of God had to be crucified. Hands and feet, according to Psalm 22, had to be pierced. And thus, unknown to the Jewish religious hierarchy, their taking of Jesus Christ to this Roman governor was going to see to the fulfillment of Scriptural prophecy. That Roman governor was Pontius Pilate. Pilate was appointed by Tiberius to become the fifth governor of Judah in AD 26. It was whilst he governed this outpost of the Roman Empire that rumors of a certain miracle worker, a self-proclaimed prophet, Jesus of Nazareth, reached his ears. Pilate heard how this preacher was setting forth new doctrines, heralding a coming kingdom, healing the sick, raising the dead, and that large crowds were following after him. Little did Pilate know He was going to play a pivotal role in the crucifixion of Israel's healed Messiah. And it all began when Jesus of Nazareth was bundled into his presence during the Jewish feast of Passover. Matthew 27 verse 2 records that the chief priests and the elders bound the Savior and led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate, the governor. brought Pilate face to face for the first and for the last time in his life with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what I want us to think firstly upon this evening as we consider the man who washed his hands but not his heart. I want you to think with me firstly about the Savior who confronted him. The Savior who confronted him. Now up until this time the paths of these two distinguished notable men in Israel had never crossed. I read of nowhere in the three years of the Savior's earthly ministry that Jesus Christ ever met Pontius Pilate. or that Pontius Pilate ever had a personal audience with the Son of God. Rather, this was to be the first and to be the last encounter that this Roman governor had with the Son of God. Let me pause there and say that through the Gospel, God wants to bring you face to face with his Son, Jesus Christ. For you, this may be the first time you've ever truly heard the gospel. Flicking through the newsfeed on Facebook, or maybe stumbling across Sermon Auto, you've come across this message, and with time now in your hands, you've maybe logged in or downloaded this gospel message. However, though this may be the first encounter that you've had with the gospel, like Pilate's, it may be not only your first but also your last. I say that because God gives no guarantee to you that you will ever have another opportunity to hear the gospel and to respond to it than this opportunity. In actual fact, God is clear that now and that today are to be the times when God's salvation is to be accepted, for we know not what shall be on the morrow, and none of us are to boast ourselves of tomorrow. And so though it may be your first, this may also be your last. And so I would encourage you to seek him while he may be found, and to call upon the Lord, while he is near. Now note the words here in the verse 11 of Matthew chapter 27. It says, and Jesus stood before the governor. The Savior now stands before Pontius Pilate. Before the Roman governor now stands God of very God. God manifest in the flesh now stands before this mortal man, Pontius Pilate. What a sight Pilate beheld. I remind you that the Lord Jesus Christ has had no sleep for quite some time. You'll remember that he had celebrated Passover and instituted the Lord's Supper the previous night, after which they go out into the night to Gethsemane's garden. And there in Gethsemane's garden, the Savior, he prays. He prays with strong crying and tears according to the writer of the book of Hebrews. We're told that he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. Then he is taken by the rabble, by those soldiers to Caiaphas, the high priest's house, where he's tried, and he's buffeted, and he's bruised, and he's spat upon. That all takes place through the early hours of the morning, and then when day arises, he's taken bound. by the chief priests and the elders and bundled into the presence of Pontius Pilate. You can imagine all that Christ has been through and the spectacle that now stands before Pontius Pilate, a man that has been spat upon, a man that has been buffeted by the majority members of the Jewish Sanhedrin. Prophetic scripture records in Isaiah 52 verse 14 that his visage, his appearance, was marred, disfigured more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men. It is then no wonder that Pilate incredulously asked, this spectacle of a man before him, are thou the king of the Jews? Now you would have thought that the sight of the battered, bruised and broken body of the Lord Jesus Christ would have drawn Pilate to the Son of God, even if it was out of human empathy, out of human pity, out of human sympathy for him, but not so with Pontius Pilate. A sight of Christ made no difference to this man. For God had not worked in his soul. The Spirit of God had not regenerated the heart, and thereby though seeing him with the natural eye, yet the eye of faith was blind to the very one who stood before him. This could have been his Savior, this could have been his Redeemer, this could have been his friend, this could have been his master, this could have been his Lord, but Pilate was blind, blind to Christ. Could it be that through this gospel message and recent events in your life that you have been confronted with the Savior? And whereas before you couldn't see the Savior for who He was and what He has done, now you see Him and you see Him for what He has done for you through His death on the cross of Calvary. Whereas before you saw no beauty in Christ, there is now the realization that he is altogether lovely. As you've been confronted with the Christ of Calvary, maybe your heart has went out to the one who suffered at the cruel hands of men and endured the Father's wrath against sin upon his soul. And yet, sinner, I want to say that God is not seeking your sympathy tonight. He's seeking your salvation. He's not seeking your pity. He's seeking the pardoning of your sin. He's not seeking your empathy. He's seeking your emancipation. Pilate was confronted with the Son of God, and yet, he still crucified him. Sinner having been confronted with Jesus Christ in the gospel, Do not reject him. Do not crucify him afresh, as it were, but instead believe on him and receive him as your Savior and as your Lord. Oh, the Christ that confronted him. Considering the man who washed his hands but not his heart, think with me in the second place about the soul mate who warned him. The soul mate who warned him. Pontius Pilate was a married man. And most married men are very thankful for their wives, and I'm one such man. Because it's often through the counsel of a wife that draws a husband back from making unwise choices and unnecessary purchases. Well, Pilate's wife was a good wife. She was a discerning wife. She was a wife that warned Pilate to have nothing to do with the death of Jesus Christ. Note what it says in the verse 19. When he, Pilate, was set down in the judgment seat, his wife said unto him, saying, Have I nothing to do with that just man? For I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. Most dreams that I've ever dreamed in my life have been well forgotten by the morning. And I'm sure that's the case with the dreams that you've ever dreamed. But this dream, for this woman, left such an impression upon her mind, had caused her soul such distress, that she not only remembered the dream, but she communicates the dream's message to her husband. Can you not see the errand boy rushing into the judgment hall just as Pilate is about to pass sentence of death unto Christ with the mercies from Pilate's wife to her husband. Pilate, whatever you do, have nothing to do with that just, that innocent, that holy man. Have nothing to do with him. The timing of the dream was perfect. God in his providence had so ordered that this woman would have a dream and that's would mean or would be the means of delivering Pilate from blood guiltiness when it came to the one who now stood before him. Pilate's wife warned him on the basis of this dream to come on to the side of Christ and release the Son of God and yet Pilate stubbornly continued on in the course of action that he was pursuing that would end in the death of the Son of God by crucifixion. Could it be And I'm speaking to someone tonight who is a life's partner, a soulmate, a spouse. And they, like Pilate's wife, are forever encouraging you to come on to the side of Christ. Maybe, sir, your wife is a Christian. When you climb into bed and throw the covers over you, there she is, kneeling in prayer at the side of the bed, praying for your soul's salvation. Maybe, madam, your husband is a believer, and he's constantly, even to the point of irritation, pleading with you to trust in Jesus Christ, lest you die and go to hell. Do you know why they're so anxious for you? They're so anxious for you because they know what the Bible says concerning the eternal destiny of the Christ rejecter. They fear that hell is going to be your eternal destiny. Their warnings, their tears, their counsel. Their prayers, their testimony all point you to accept Jesus Christ in the gospel. Then I would implore you, heed their pleadings, listen to their warnings, come into saving union with Jesus Christ, because it may be that your child, your mother, your father, your wife, your husband, your brother, your sister, may be God's last messenger to you. Listen to the warnings. Pilate failed to listen to the counsel of his soulmate. What a decision that was for Pilate. Concerning the man who washed his hands but not his heart, I want you to think with me about a third matter. Think with me about a smitten conscience that pricked him. In my reading of the Gospel accounts, I find three times Pilate's conscience alerted him to the fact of the innocency of the Lord Jesus Christ. So convinced was Pilate of the Savior's innocency that he verbalized that very conclusion, the conclusion of his own conscience, by declaring on three separate occasions, I find no fault in this man. Inwardly Pilate knew that before him stood the spotless, innocent, pure, sinless, blameless, unblemished, faultless, flawless, impeccable Son of God. His conscience would allow him to come to no other conclusion but that conclusion. to reject and to crucify such a one would go against all his conscience was telling him not to do. Maybe over the last little while your conscience has been awakened as Christ has been brought before you. There is an acceptance on your part that he is the Son of God and therefore the only Savior of the soul. Though you know and could rehearse to all who would listen to you the faults and the failures of so many professing Christians, your conscience finds no fault in this man, the man Christ Jesus. No fault in him. And so to reject The Son of God and the Gospel would go against all your conscience is telling you not to do. If that is the state of your life tonight, then my counsel to you is to listen to your conscience, receive Christ, and find new life in him. Because God uses the conscience to alert us of those things that we do that are wrong, and surely the greatest wrong The greatest wrong any sinner can do is to reject Christ and the gospel. And so conscience appeals to you, the sinner, that the only and the safest course of action for you tonight is to leave your sin and to cleave to Jesus Christ. So let me encourage you to listen to that inner voice. Hinner, heed the speaking conscience within and be saved from your sin. despite being confronted with Christ, being warned by his wife to have nothing to do with him, and having a smitten conscience because of him. Pontius Pilate continued to pursue a policy that would lead to the death of Christ on the cross. I find myself asking the question, why? Why did Pilate make such a fatal error when it came to the fate of the Lord Jesus Christ that day? Maybe position played a part in Pilate's decision-making that day. Pilate loved being the governor of Judah. And he certainly didn't want to lose that position. To release Jesus would have resulted in him putting offside the Jewish religious leaders. And their opinion carried weight. And consequently, they may have complained to Tiberius, a complaint that could have led to him losing his lucrative position as the governor of Judah. And so in order to keep the peace Pilate consented to their cruel bidding and sentenced Jesus Christ to death. You know sadly there are people who are yet in their sin listening to this message and your position in some organization, in some society or among your circle of friends is the reason why you are not saved. You understand that becoming a Christian might well involve you having to resign from some position. It might lead to a loss of a friendship. It might result in you being no longer, no longer respected in the circles that you move in. And so, for the sake of maintaining your position, you continue on in your sin. Listen, sinner. The gaining of the world is not worth the losing of your soul. The only position that should concern you as a sinner is whether you are in Christ or out of Christ. That's the only position you ought to concern yourself with tonight. Am I in Christ or am I without Christ? Maybe pressure played a part in Pilate's decision making that day. I'm thinking about pressure from the crowd, whipped up into a frenzy by the religious leaders, the crowd with one consenting voice cried out, crucify him, crucify him. When Pilate tried to reason, we were told by another gospel writer that they said, if thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend. Whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. wanting to please the people, Pilate succumbed to the pressure from the crowd and consented to their wishes to have Christ to be crucified. Sinner, is there pressure from outside sources being brought to bear upon your mind as you contemplate whether or not you're going to become a Christian tonight? Maybe it's pressure from a marriage partner. a close friend, a boyfriend, a girlfriend that maybe even sits beside you on the same sofa or the same bed where you're watching this very broadcast tonight. Now that pressure may come from my direct ultimatum. Become a Christian and the marriage, the engagement, the friendship is over. Or it may be pressure just in your own mind. you think if I became a follower, a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, then all my present relationships would have to come to an end. From whatever side the pressure is coming from, whether that pressure is real or imaginary, let me say that your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is the most important relationship. I say it's the only relationship that really and truly and eternally matters. And I say that because your eternal destiny hinges upon that relationship. Accept Christ and heaven will be gained. Reject Christ and heaven will be forfeited. Make sure, make sure you are savingly acquainted with Jesus Christ. Maybe pride played a part in Pilate's decision making that day. Was it the case that Pilate was too proud to confess that he was a sinner? Too proud to admit that he needed a savior? Too proud to humble himself before God? Too proud to bow the knee to this king? And so in pride he continued on in his sin and made the most fatal error when it came to what to do with Jesus Christ. Archibald Brown said, pride is a daring sin that disputes the very sovereignty of Jehovah. and ventures to rob him of the glory which is his due. It hardens the sinner in the sin and ensures his doom by making him spurn the only salvation that saves. Did you know, did you know that pride is the sin that damns the greatest number of sinners? And it will be pride that damns you. Oh, that you would humble yourself before God just now. Take your rightful place as a sinner. Seek God's mercy. The scriptures say, God resisted the proud, but he giveth grace to the humble. Yes, even saving grace. May saving grace be imparted to every humbled sinner. seeks God's mercy and salvation this moment." Whatever the reason was for the decision he came to, Pilate makes the fatal error of sentencing Jesus Christ to death that very day. However, Pilate He wanted to wash his hands of all responsibility to the fate of Jesus Christ. And so Matthew 27 verse 24 tells us that Pilate took water, washed his hands before the multitude saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person, see you to it. Pilate performing this hand washing ritual, wanted to convey to the people that they were guilty of the Savior's death and that he was innocent. Mere washing of his hands did not free him from the guilt of this heinous crime. Pilate was a man who was instrumental in the death of Jesus Christ, hand washing or not. Washing his hands did not exonerate. Washing his hands did not absolve. Washing his hands did not free Pilate from this sinful act that he was about to commit. Billy Sunday said, if Pilate had have washed his old black heart, he would have been all right. He would have been all right. Let me say to every sinner listening to this message, though it has been disrupted, You cannot wash your hands of Jesus Christ this evening. having been confronted with him, you now have to decide what you're going to do with him. Like Pilate, who said, what shall I then do with Jesus, which is called Christ? That's the question that's coming from this church building right into your home, right into your ears, right into your heart, right into your soul tonight. What shall I then do with him? do with Jesus which is called Christ? What are you going to do with Him? Sinner! What are you going to do with Christ tonight? Will you receive Him? Will you turn from your sin? Believe in Him to the saving of your soul, or will you reject Him as you've done on so many occasions? The outward washing of hands will not suffice. There needs to be an inward cleansing of the heart, a washing away of your sins in the blood of Jesus Christ. Have you known that washing? Have you known the washing of your sins? in the blood of Jesus Christ. God wants no outward performance of a mere washing of hands. but he requires an inward washing, an inward cleansing, a cleansing by the blood of Jesus Christ. Oh, that such a washing would take place tonight. There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains. Sinner, will you by faith Will you come to that blood-filled fountain? Will you plunge therein and lose every stain? I pray you will. Pilate washed his hands, but sadly his heart was never washed from its sin. I pray that you would have your heart cleansed in the blood of Christ, and so go to him just now. Seek the cleansing required to make you clean before God. Praise God the promises that the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all sin. Go to the cross. Go to the blood. Wash and be clean. Do not be like Pilate, who simply washed his hands in an outward expression, but oh, know the cleansing within, and by that, be saved, be rescued, be delivered from sin and hell. May God be pleased to bring you to Christ. Can I say, before we pray, if I can help you in any way spiritually, then please contact us by the means we've said, Facebook Messenger, by the email address of the church portal known FPC at hotmail.co.uk, or by telephone, 02825 821 765. May God be pleased to bring you to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's unite in prayer, and let's pray. Our loving Father, we do commit this meeting to Thee. Let us know, O God, all that has happened, and we cry to Thee, O God, that in coming days that we may be enabled to know God's uninterrupted broadcast from this place. We commit all things to Thee, knowing that all things are ordered by Thee. And so answer prayer, save the lost, restore the backslider, and may there be the washing away of sin in the blood of Jesus Christ. Answer these our petitions. We offer these prayers in and through the Savior's precious name. Amen. We trust that the Lord will bless his word to your heart, and if I can be of any assistance, then please make contact with us. I trust that you'll be able to join us for our midweek prayer meeting, God willing, Wednesday night, 8 p.m., here on Facebook Live. And pray, pray that God will use his word even to the saving of the lost, for Christ's sake, amen. That was a disaster.