INTRO.- You’ve heard some of those good news/bad news deals. Here are a few for preachers.
Good News: The Women’s Group voted to send you a get-well card. Bad News: The vote passed by 11-10.
Good News: The Elder Board accepted your job description the way you wrote it. Bad News: They were so inspired by it, they also formed a search committee to find somebody capable of filling the position.
Good News: Mrs. Jones is wild about your sermons. Bad News: Mrs. Jones is also wild about the "Beavis and Butthead" and the "Texas Chain Saw Massacre."
Good News: The trustees finally voted to add more church parking. Bad News: They are going to blacktop the front lawn of the parsonage.
Good News: Church attendance rose dramatically the last three weeks. Bad News: You were on vacation.
Good News: Your deacons want to send you to the Holy Land. Bad News: They are waiting until the next war.
Brothers and sisters, these good news/bad news situation don’t just happen to preachers, they happen to everybody! No one is immune from both good and bad in life.
ILL.- It’s like the farmer who went into his banker and announced that he had bad news and good news. "First, the bad news..." "Well," said the farmer, "I can’t make my mortgage payments. And that crop loan I’ve taken out for the past 10 years -- I can’t pay that off, either. Not only that, I won’t be able to pay you the couple of hundred thousand I still have outstanding on my tractors and other equipment. So I’m going to have to give up the farm and turn it all over to you for whatever you can salvage out of it."
Silence prevailed for a minute and then the banker said ,"What’s the good news?" "The good news is that I’m going to keep on banking with you," said the farmer.
What happened to that banker and what happens to us also happened to Jesus! He experienced both good and bad in his life on earth!
Hebrews 4:15 "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin." TEMPTED IN EVERY WAY.
You would think that being the son of God would make a difference in a person’s life. Yes, in a sense. He was God in the flesh. He could call down 10,000 angels to His side if He needed help but He didn’t. He walked in close communion with His Heavenly Father and that was wonderful. But still, He was tested. He was tempted. He was grilled.
Remember in Matthew chapter 4 when Satan (in person) said to Jesus, "Command these stones to become loaves of bread"? Had Jesus given in He would have been giving in to more than just His normal desire for food. HE WOULD HAVE BEEN YIELDING HIS ALLEGIANCE TO THE EVIL ONE WHO WANTED TO BE GOD!
NAME YOUR TEMPTATION. What’s the strongest temptation you’ve ever faced in life? Lust? Greed? Fame? Pride? Gluttony? Overindulgence of something? You name it and Jesus faced it, He endured it and HE OVERCAME IT. The Word says so.
Consequently, since He’s been there and done that He can help us! And boy, do we ever need help at times! On those really bad days we need His help!
PROP.- Today is Palm Sunday and we want to think about both the good news and bad news or the good days and bad days that happened to Jesus and how they apply to us.
1- The good day
2- The bad day
I. THE GOOD DAY
8A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!" 10When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?" 11The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."
The good day in the life of Jesus was Palm Sunday. The people were excited about Jesus. They were glad to see Him. They were thrilled, shouting "praise the Lord," so to speak because at this time they believed that Jesus was a true prophet of God. I am sure that Jesus felt pretty good on this day. Of course, He wasn’t fooled by all this cheering. He knew what was coming and He knew people’s hearts.
Overall, how should we take good days? Be thankful. Give thanks to God for any good day that you experience. Accept it as a gracious gift from God. Every good and perfect gift comes from above. If it’s good, we assume it’s from God and we should give thanks for it.
When is a good day for you? When everybody is getting along at home? When you have enough money to meet your bills? When no one is hassling you at work?
ILL.- In DETROIT, MI, A homeless man who returned $21,000 worth of saving bonds he found in a trash bin found out how much honesty can pay off.
Charles Moore, 59, had been searching for returnable bottles when he came across the 31 U.S. savings bonds. He turned them in to a homeless shelter, where a staff member tracked down the family of the man who had owned them.
For his good deed, the bond owner’s son gave Moore $100, but residents around Michigan and in other states decided his action merited a more generous reward. So far, Moore has received over $4,000.
“I was thankful for it,” said Moore, who had lost his roofing job in Ohio and moved back to Michigan but couldn’t find work. Moore said he plans to use the money to find an apartment.
Brothers and sisters, that homeless man, Charles Moore, experienced a very good day! And I say, so be it. Praise the Lord for his honesty.
WANT TO HAVE GOOD DAYS? Do you want to have more good days?
I Peter 3:10-12 "For, Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."
How’s that go? What’s that formula for seeing good days? Keep control of your tongue. Turn from evil. Do good and you’ll reap good. Seek peace. Seek to be at peace with all people. Don’t be a fighter. Be a lover. Live right or righteously in the eyes of the Lord. And pray! WOW! WHAT A FORMULA FOR DOING GOOD AND EXPERIENCING GOOD DAYS!
Write them down. Mark them down. Practice them every day and God guarantees that you will see some better days, some good days!
Proverbs 11:17 "A kind man benefits himself, but a cruel man brings trouble on himself."
II. THE BAD DAY
ILL.- A police officer in a small town stopped a motorist who was speeding down Main Street. "But officer," the man began, "I can explain." "Just be quiet," snapped the officer. "I’m going to let you cool your heels in jail until the chief gets back."
"But, officer, I just wanted to say,..." "And I said to keep quiet! You’re going to jail!"
A few hours later the officer looked in on his prisoner and said, "Lucky for you that the chief’s at his daughter’s wedding. He’ll be in a good mood when he gets back." "Don’t count on it," answered the fellow in the cell. "I’m the groom."
That poor groom was having a bad day and that officer was about to have one as well. WHAT ABOUT YOU? Ever had a bad day at work? Who hasn’t? If you haven’t, something is wrong.
ILL.- My daughter, Holly Santasiere, teaches the 5th grade in Henrico county, Virginia. Doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Are you kidding? It wasn’t so hot one day for my daughter when a girl in her class went berserk and trashed her whole classroom. She wrecked the place, threw chairs everywhere, etc. Holly had to call for help to settle the girl down. THAT WAS NOT A GOOD DAY FOR HOLLY!
Holly would like to move to another country, to her home county of Hanover, which hopefully, might be a little better. But guess what? Even in a seemingly good atmosphere there will still be some bad days.
And the same is true for you. Don’t you wish you had the job of your dreams? What would it be? But guess again. There would still be problems. There is for the lowly janitor and also for the President of the United States. And there was for Jesus.
We might think that being the Son of God meant you would have it made! NOT SO! Not with the devil on your heels, trying to destroy everything you do in life!
What’s a bad day for you? Getting chewed out at work? Or maybe even cussed out? No matter how bad of a you’ve had it was nothing in comparison to what Jesus experienced!
Matthew 27:27-31 27Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" they said. 30They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
45-50 45From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 46About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 47When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He’s calling Elijah." 48Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 49The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him." 50And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit."
No matter how bad we’ve had it in life, it was nothing in comparison to this day in the life of Jesus. DO YOU UNDERSTAND? The Son of God was rejected not only by mankind but also, in a moment of time He was rejected, isolated, cut off from His heavenly Father. HE TASTED DEATH FOR ALL MANKIND. He experienced the second death on the cross! He bore the sins of the whole world in Himself! THE ONE WHO HAD NEVER SINNED, BECAME SIN FOR US!
If that isn’t a bad day, I don’t know what is!
And yet He suffered it, knowing full well He was accomplishing the will of His heavenly Father! In one way, it was the worst day of His life and yet, in another way it was the best day of His life!
Hebrews 12:2 "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Did you hear it? Did you get it? The joy set before him enabled him to endure the cross. Even though it was a horrible day, it was the best of days because He purchased our redemption. He paid the penalty for our sins on the cross! And that was a very good day in God’s plan!
And this is also teaches us a lesson about bad days. WE NEED TO LOOK BEYOND THOSE BAD DAYS. We need to live by faith. We need to realize that the bad things of this world are not the end!
Romans 8:18 "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."
II Cor. 4:17 "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. "
In the light of eternity and the glory of heaven, the bad things of this life are nothing! PLEASE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT OR BY THE PAIN OF YOUR DAY!
CONCLUSION------------------------------------
Hebrews 4:14-16 "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
Jesus left heaven for earth. He’s seen it all. Endured it all. Consequently, He understands everything we’re going through. He is completely sympathetic. Let us approach Him, walk with Him, live with Him. He will show us mercy and give us grace to overcome. And our bad days will soon become good days!
