May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (NIV)

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (NIV)

A.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (NIV)

B.

and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” (NIV)

All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. (NIV)

They overcame him 
by the blood of the Lamb 
and by the word of their testimony; 
they did not love their lives so much 
as to shrink from death. (NIV)

¹ Who has believed our message 
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 
² He grew up before him like a tender shoot, 
and like a root out of dry ground. 
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, 
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 
³ He was despised and rejected by men, 
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. 
Like one from whom men hide their faces 
he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 

⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities 
and carried our sorrows, 
yet we considered him stricken by God, 
smitten by him, and afflicted. 
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, 
he was crushed for our iniquities; 
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, 
and by his wounds we are healed. 
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray, 
each of us has turned to his own way; 
and the Lord has laid on him 
the iniquity of us all. 

⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted, 
yet he did not open his mouth; 
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, 
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, 
so he did not open his mouth. (NIV)

Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. (NIV)

and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (NIV)

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; ⁵ if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; (NIV)

He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (NIV)

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)

"But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” (NIV)

⁸ “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, 
but their hearts are far from me. 
⁹ They worship me in vain; 
their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ ” (NIV)

¹ After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. ² With a mighty voice he shouted: 

“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! 
She has become a home for demons 
and a haunt for every evil spirit, 
a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. 
³ For all the nations have drunk 
the maddening wine of her adulteries. 
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, 
and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.” 

⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven say: 

“Come out of her, my people, 
so that you will not share in her sins, 
so that you will not receive any of her plagues; (NIV)

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” 

²⁷ Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." (NIV)

⁷ Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— 
I have come to do your will, O God.’ ”

¹⁶ “This is the covenant I will make with them 
after that time, says the Lord. 
I will put my laws in their hearts, 
and I will write them on their minds.” (NIV)

your kingdom come, 
your will be done 
on earth as it is in heaven. (NIV)

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm. (NIV)

In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (NIV)

Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. (NIV)

They overcame him 
by the blood of the Lamb 
and by the word of their testimony; 
they did not love their lives so much 
as to shrink from death. (NIV)

⁴ “It is not for kings, O Lemuel— 
not for kings to drink wine, 
not for rulers to crave beer, 
⁵ lest they drink and forget what the law decrees, 
and deprive all the oppressed of their rights. (NIV)

He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. (NIV)

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy." (NIV)

God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. (NIV)

with burnt offerings and sin offerings 
you were not pleased. (NIV)

¹⁴ having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

¹⁶ Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. (NIV)

On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, (NIV)

“For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (NIV)

“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath 
and from doing as you please on my holy day, 
if you call the Sabbath a delight 
and the Lord’s holy day honorable, 
and if you honor it by not going your own way 
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,” (NIV)

⁴ The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.

⁴² As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath.

⁴⁴ On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. (NIV)

¹³ On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer.

² As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

⁴ Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. (NIV)

Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. (NIV)

¹ After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. ² With a mighty voice he shouted: 

“Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. ³ For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.” 

⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven say: 

“Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;" (NIV)

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— (NIV)

They overcame him 
by the blood of the Lamb 
and by the word of their testimony; 
they did not love their lives so much 
as to shrink from death. (NIV)

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (NIV)

²⁰ When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ²¹ What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (NIV)

¹⁹ The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (NIV)

If ye love me, keep my commandments. (KJV)

⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. (NIV)

⁶ Then he said to the Kenites, “Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.

⁷ Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. ⁸ He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. ⁹ But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

¹² Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.” 

¹³ When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” 

¹⁴ But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?” 

¹⁵ Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.” 

¹⁶ “Stop!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” 
“Tell me,” Saul replied. 

¹⁷ Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. ¹⁸ And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.’ ¹⁹ Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?” 

²⁰ “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. ²¹ The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” 

²² But Samuel replied: 

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices 
as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? 
To obey is better than sacrifice, 
and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 
²³ For rebellion is like the sin of divination, 
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. 
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, 
he has rejected you as king.” (NIV)

“They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.” (NIV)

He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, (NIV)

Conclusions:

Appeal: