Breath on Me (Many ideas from a Sermon By Leonard Ravenhill)
INTRODUCTION...I know that this will sound like an Easter Sermon but bear with me...it is actually a New Year's sermon of the one and only resolution we will need for 2010.
A lot of this sermon is gathered from a sermon by THE BLESSED REVIVALIST LEONARD RAVENHILL … who passed away a few years ago...I was introduced to him by my Brother in Christ...Ron Wallace.
It lends itself very well to how each of us can with the Spirit of the Eternal God's help...the Spirit of the One who called Himself the “I AM”...better face the New year.
MATTHEW 28:1-7 says... “1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. 2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: 4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. 5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. 6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.”
I think that it was Campbell Morgan who said that THE RESURRECTION IS THE MOST STUPENDOUS, MOST SUPERNATURAL MIRACLE THAT THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN.
Think of our FAITH as a great pyramid that the apostle Paul builds through the writing of his fourteen epistles, including Hebrews...and then he turns that great pyramid over and balances it ALL on one thing!
And that one thing is a verse found in the 15TH CHAPTER OF FIRST CORINTHIANS VERSE 19... “...if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”
And before that verse Paul had said in 1 CORINTHIANS 15:17-18... “17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.”
And in Verses 20-21 he continued... “20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.”
We just celebrated our Lord's birth and we saw many signs that said... “The reason for the season...is Jesus” and I would not argue...but I like this one best... “The reason for the season...is Easter!”
Now just what does the 19th verse of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 really mean to us?
That verse says that we should not while living our earthly life have hope just in Christ and His life...no...because it is useless unless we place our hope...our FAITH...in the resurrection of Christ.
Paul insisted if Jesus resurrection was not fact the whole Christian message then was based on a lie.
“Take away the resurrection,” he said, “and you destroy both the very foundation and fabric of the Christian FAITH!”
And that pyramid will balance because He did ARISE...and He lives today...and He sits on His throne in Heaven in His rightful place at the right hand of the Father. And I give PRAISE to HIM for that TODAY!!!
Yes...the resurrection supersedes everything else...because if He is not risen from the dead…everything else collapses... His birth which we just celebrated … would be meaningless...
His teachings to the Jewish leaders and people at the Temple in Jerusalem at 12 … would be meaningless...
The Sermon on the Mount, everything He did in life … would be meaningless...
The changing of water to wine, all the healing, all His miracles … would be meaningless...
The promises He made to His Disciples in the Upper Room … would be meaningless..
Many men...Confucius, Buddha, yes even Mohamed taught great things...lived good lives teaching a pure walk … but only Jesus Christ conquered the grave...ONLY HE AROSE! LET'S PRAY!
There are many philosophies about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but the Scripture, this Holy Bible is the first, the foremost, and the final word.
Yet there are those who have and still say that Jesus never died. He was just a prophet...just another lunatic.
They say that all He did was faint because He had been up all night, pushed around, and He had lost a lot of blood.
They continue by saying that then He was put Him into a cool tomb...revived...and came out again.
Well, the apostles, of course, absolutely shatter that argument.
Remember...this is the very thing that got the apostles into trouble and ended many of their lives!
If Jesus wasn't risen from the dead, I think they could have gone back to the temple and said... "Look, He was a good man, we saw Him perform many miracles...yes He was a marvelous man, but He didn't come through on the last thing. He said... 'I'm going to rise from the dead under My own power.' We're sorry but He didn't make it. And we feel that we must share that with you...”
You know, I think in the temple they could have started a new school...a new sect of Jesus followers, and had no trouble doing it...today it could have been a whole new branch of the Jewish faith looking for the coming of the real Messiah and studying the prophet Jesus teachings and works...BUT...
The thing right out in the open though...was that these men who had trembled and run away at His crucifixion, who forsook Him and fled, who were so scared to be linked to Him … became as bold as lions. YES! … THEY DID NOT SHRINK ONE INCH...THEY JUST BECAME BOLDER AN BOLDER... WHY?
FIRST...BECAUSE THEY KNEW THAT JESUS HAD RISEN FROM THE DEAD, THAT'S WHY!
It says in THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES CONCERNING JESUS, FIRST CHAPTER AND VERSE THREE... "To whom also He showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the KINGDOM OF GOD."
Now look, if it was a fallacy, as many of the world said then and still do today, why did this bunch of men stand up and profess His resurrection all the while living in danger for their lives.
Would they do what they did just to continue going forth carrying out a hoax?
Can these men have had a hallucination for forty days in succession?
BELOVED...the Scripture says... "He showed Himself alive after His passion... BY MANY INFALLIBLE PROOFS."
I can't find one other modern translation of the Bible...that includes the word infallible.
The NIV says... “...convincing proofs...”. The NLT and CEV says... “...in many ways...”.
Now...to me... “convincing proofs” and “in many ways” is just not the same as “INFALLIBLE PROOFS”.
That is why I am using the King James Version today...because modern man hates that word infallible...and yes the Evil One, Satan, hates that word... “infallible”.
But the ancient manuscript uses the word “infallible” when it speaks the words... “He showed himself alive” and infallible means it is written in stone...it is true beyond true!!!
SO YES... "He showed Himself alive after His passion by many 'infallible proofs'."
So just who did He show himself alive to?
Oh, to a whole bunch of people; as many as five hundred and in broad daylight too!
Can you see visions in broad daylight? Suffer hallucinations? I don't think so!
Beloved...this Holy Bible says...He showed Himself alive...and He did it BY MANY INFALLIBLE PROOFS!
SECOND...What were these infallible proofs?
The infallible proofs were... "We have touched Him, we have seen Him." Peter testifies to that very fact later in his first epistle, doesn't he?
He says in 2 PETER 1:16... “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
To paraphrase Peter, this is what he is saying... "We don't follow cunningly devised stories and lore, we have seen Him, we handled Him, we heard Him. For forty days He confirmed our faith.”
Oh, that is wonderful...isn't it? … Yes, it's wonderful!
But to me it's also terrible, you see, because the world hadn't believed Him for three years, then over the next forty days He says... "Get out of the way world, I am not appearing to you but to those who believed in Me before I was crucified."
And hear me on this...Jesus could have won the world that very day! Yes He could!
All He had to do was go to Pontius Pilate at one o'clock in the morning and tap him and say... "Hey, what are you going to do now?"
Then go down the road to Caiaphas house, the Jewish High Priest of Jesus Day, and stand by his bed and only say... "Well? Well? What do you think NOW RABBI Caiaphas?"
Oh, he'd have shuddered in his bed and had to say... "Oh...My God, my Messiah...have mercy on me."
Or go to the village cemetery and shout over the wall... "I am the resurrection and the Life."
He could have shouted... “THE RESURRECTION IS NOT PART OF MY THEOLOGY, THE RESURRECTION IS A PERSON. AND THAT PERSON IS ME. I AM THE RESURRECTION."
AND TODAY...HE IS AS MUCH MY RESURRECTION AS HE IS MY SAVIOR...AND MY LORD AND KING...AMEN!!!
Now it says in the Emmaus walk...the walk that 2 of the disciples made to the village of Emmaus, that He appeared unto them in another form.
That's right … and they didn't understand.
How many forms did Jesus actually appear in?
He appeared as a little baby...yes...GOD appeared as a babe.
He appeared as a great preacher...their ears must have burned at the Sermon on the Mount... they must have said... "This is the most marvelous thing man has ever uttered. Is this possible?"
He appeared as their teacher...just as He had appeared as a babe.
He appeared as a servant to their embarrassment...one day He put a towel around His waist, took some water, and He knelt and washed their feet.
Yes...He bowed...He performed this demeaning thing...this slaves chore to show us “a servant's heart”.
And Praise God Almighty...He appeared one day on a cross, as the ATONING LAMB to take away the sins of the world.
And after the Resurrection He appears in another form on the Emmaus Road.
They are walking down that road, just seven miles from Jerusalem on the way to Emmaus and He overtook them.
Their feet were heavy, but their hearts were heavier still.
You know what? I truly think the resurrection morning was the most disappointing morning ever in the life of the Son of God. You know why?
Because if one of them had believed Him they would have been lined up outside of the tomb waiting for Him, but not one of them turned up. NOT ONE!
THIRD...HE'LL APPEAR TO YOU IN DIFFERENT FORMS TOO...HE'LL APPEAR TO YOU THE WAY YOU NEED HIM.
Sometimes He comes in tenderness and compassion when you have a wounded heart and a wounded spirit, and He binds up your broken heart. AMEN!!!
Sometimes He will come and pierce your heart...because He loves you, He will come and pierce you. AMEN!!!
Sometimes He will come in overwhelming majesty and you have to bow at His feet in adoration.
Yet...He doesn't have to come in one form or another, He appears as He wants to appear.
CONCLUSION...
Our Savior showed Himself alive unto His disciples WITH MANY INFALLIBLE PROOFS. I will never say ANY GREATER WORDS...NEVER!
Oh, I think they enjoyed it when He broke bread, you know, when He called to them from the shore one morning and they were tired after fishing and He said... "Hi boys!"
Actually the original Greek says He said... "...lads, come here."
And they went, and as the hymn says... "They met their heart's desire, bread and fish upon the fire."
That was the greatest breakfast ever cooked.
I think He took some rocks and put them down and said... "Become bread."
Then He said to the devil...to the great tempter Satan... "I'll do it when I want to, not when you want me to." AMEN!!!
Because you have to remember the devil once said to Him, "If you are the Son of God, turn those rocks into bread."
Well, you can never do the wrong thing at the right time, but you can certainly do the right thing at the wrong time, so ... when Satan tempted Him He said... "No" … but that day I think my Savior...my precious Lord said... “Now is the right time”!
And I guess He caught fish the same way Peter did under His instruction when they had taxes to pay.
So, their Lord made breakfast for His disciples...and, OH MY, wouldn't you have loved to have been there to partake of that breakfast? I know I would have!
Do you think they ever forgot that breakfast?
Did Peter ever forget when Jesus looked on him in compassion and redemption as He asked that Rock three times... “Peter, do you love me more than these?”
Did Thomas ever forget that day when His resurrected Lord said Thomas... "Put your hands in the nail scarred hands..."
Oh My...those were certainly wonderful appearances...weren't they?
But I'll tell you right now the thing that was most wonderful of all though...you know why they were strong enough to do what God told them to do...even though it might mean death to them?
BELOVED...HE BREATHED ON THEM. AMEN!!! YES, HE BREATHED ON THEM!!!
And if that doesn't put a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye...then...
Yes, He breathed on them just as He BREATHED on a piece of clay in the Garden of Eden that day.
Oh, Adam was very beautiful when he was first made...as beautiful as a corpse can be because he had no life in him.
Beautiful eyes, fingernails were perfect, body perfect, and then finally... the Almighty God...the one who called himself 'I AM' … BREATHED on him, and he became a living soul.
Remember, He took a man called Abram, and He BREATHED into Abram and Abram became Abraham...that day changed his whole life...it also changed the whole fabric of our FAITH.
And He can change your whole life today TOO! AMEN!!!
He breathed on them in the upper room, BEFORE Pentecost...and said... "Receive ye the Holy Ghost."
Then He told them in LUKE 24:49 to tarry in Jerusalem until... “...ye be endued with power from on high.”
And by that breath...by that power...they received the Holy Ghost! AMEN!!!
Because if a man has not the Spirit of Christ then that man is none of His...does not belong to Him.
But they received the GIFT...THE GIFT of the BREATH of GOD'S POWER ... and they received a Baptism ... and they received it in that upper room before Christ died...and you can receive it too!
YES...THERE WERE MANY INFALLIBLE PROOFS OF HIS RESURRECTION! PRAISE GOD!!!
Again, this is the key to the Christian FAITH.
This is the key to the apostolic church of Jesus Christ today.
All the warranties of the future are in Jesus Christ and the resurrection...not His birth...not His life...not His works...they are in the very fact that He was VICTORIOUS over death! PRAISE GOD!!!
That pyramid that Paul built through his writings...stands alone on this very fact...HE IS RISEN!
INVITATION...
2010 is just a few days away...and it is time for NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS.
Maybe you want to eat less and round that body back into shape...Maybe you want to live a better life for God...Maybe you want to exercise more often...Maybe you want to be a better parent to your children...
Maybe … you see, I could go on and on with the “maybe's” but there is only one thing, yes one thing that you need to resolve to do for the upcoming year.
And that one thing is this and nothing else...it is the only resolution you will ever need for the rest of your life.
Ask your God to... “Breath on you today and each day until you leave this life to go home to Him”!
Each and every morning when you get up pray to the King of the Universe...the 'I AM'...this... “Heavenly Father, through your Holy Spirit...breath your life into me today”!
Life is GOOD...God is GOOD...when we are one with Him...when we have HIS BREATH OF ETERNAL LIFE LIVING IN US.
LET'S PRAY ...GOD, BREATH ON ME TODAY...BREATH ON THESE WHO SIT BEFORE ME TODAY! ...
If someone here has not accepted Christ as their Savior...I pray that they will do that today.
If there is one who has already accepted Christ as their Savior yet does not feel that breath in them...I ask my Lord to breath on them right NOW and pray they will keep asking for the Spirit's breath until that certain day. AMEN. HAPPY 2010...If anyone needs to make a decision...TODAY can be your DAY OF SALVATION...TODAY can be your DAY OF REDEDICATION...please come forward.
