BRIDGE OVER HELL
Acts 24:15; 1 Tim. 2:5-6 LNT
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. Some people are in a hurry for people to leave this world.
a. A little five-year-old girl brought a plastic bucket to her grandpa and asked him to kick it. "Why do you want me to do that?" He asked?
b. "Because, mommy said, ‘When Grandpa kicks the bucket we're going to go to Disney World.’"
2. Then there are those who don't want to go anywhere.
a. Mary Scott of Ben Wheeler Texas, tells about her mother who is 93, and is always worried about the state of her finances.
b. Her son-in-law tried to ease her mind by telling her, "I've calculated that, given your expenses, you have enough money to last at least the next 16 years." (by then she’d be 109 years old).
c. "That's fine," mom replied, "but how will I manage after that?"
3. I think all of us would like to live forever; that's why Easter is so important. Easter tells us about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are profound implications to the fact of His resurrection.
B. TEXT & THESIS
1. Paul referred to this in Acts 24:15, “…and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.”
2. Why does Paul refer to the Resurrection as a Hope? Because... It reveals the:
a. Doom of Man,
b. The Love of God,
c. And the Glorious Future that awaits us!
3. The title of this message is “Bridge Over Hell.”
I. IT REVEALS THE DOOM OF MAN
A. BRIDGE OUT
1. Why is the Resurrection a thing of hope? Because without it we don’t have hope. Why?
2. STORY.
a. On May 26, 2002, 2 barges were going north on the Arkansas River. One of the barges hit a pylon under a 1,988 foot bridge, 100 miles east of Oklahoma City, on Interstate 40.
b. A 600 foot span of the bridge collapsed into the water. 20,000 cars were speeding toward that bridge. At least 12 cars plunged into the river.
c. If you had been in your car heading for that bridge, how serious would you think the situation to be?
B. THE BRIDGE TO HEAVEN
1. Similarly, the whole world is on the Highway of Life. This Highway ends in eternity.
2. Mt. 7:13-14 says “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 1But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
3. But the problem is, the Bridge to Heaven was knocked out by sin.
4. We think of some people as "bad" and others as "good." But the Bible tells us that "Everyone has sinned" (Romans 3:23).
5. The Bible also tells us; But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his
face from you, so that he will not hear Isa. 59:2). Because of sin, we can’t go to heaven.
6. The result is, mankind is doomed to death and eternity without God, in the lake of fire.
7. But there's Good News! Jesus Christ, by his death on the Cross, paid for all your and my sins. He builds a bridge over Hell!
8. "With three nails and two pieces of wood, Jesus made a bridge over Hell."
9. 1 Tim. 2:5 New Living Translation. "That God is on one side and all the people on the other side and Christ Jesus, Himself man, is between them to bring them together by giving his life for all mankind."
10. So Christ's resurrection is the positive side of our salvation; it gives us hope of a second chance -- for all!
II. IT REVEALS THE LOVE OF GOD
A. GOD’S PERSONAL LOVE FOR US
1. You are important to God!
2. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” Mt. 10:29-31.
3. God knows the intimate details of our lives (Ps. 139:1-4), the bad and the good, and he loves us!
4. God says, “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.’” Jer. 31:3. From all eternity, before we were born, God loved us.
B. HIS DEMONSTRATION OF THIS LOVE
1. Rom. 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
2. John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” He loves you more than your own mother, spouse, or children.
3. Luke 15:4-7. The Good Shepherd and lost sheep. If you had been the only one, Jesus would still have gone to the cross for you. Why? The good shepherd leaves the 99 and goes in search for the one lost sheep.
4. The logical corollary is: God loves us so much, that He would rather die, than to live without us!
III. IT REVEALS A GLORIOUS FUTURE HOPE
A. WHAT A DIFFERENCE TO DISCIPLES
1. On February 27, 1991, at the height of Desert Storm, Ruth Dillow received a very sad message from the Pentagon. It stated that her son, Clayton Carpenter, Pvt. first class, had stepped on a landmine in Kuwait and was dead.
2. Ruth later wrote, "I can't begin to describe my grief and shock. It was almost more than I could bear. For three days I wept. For three days I experienced anger and loss. For three days people tried to comfort me, to no avail because the loss was too great."
3. But three days after she received that message, the telephone rang. The voice on the other end said, "Mom, it's me. I'm alive!" Ruth Dillow said, "I couldn't believe it at first. But then I recognized his voice and he really was alive." The message was all a mistake!
4. She said, "I laughed, I cried, I felt like turning
cartwheels, because my son whom I had thought was dead, was really alive. I'm sure none of you can even begin to understand how I felt."
5. Perhaps not, but some who walked the pages of the New Testament would've understood how she felt.
B. QUESTION and ANSWER FORUM
1. "Dear Dr. Smith, Our preacher said on Easter, that Jesus just swooned on the cross and that the disciples just nursed him back to health. What do you think? Sincerely, Bewildered."
2. DEAR BEWILDERED, "Beat your preacher with a cat of nine tails until he is almost dead, nail him to a cross, hang him in the sun for six hours, run a spear through his side and up into his heart, put him in an airless tomb for 36 hours and see if he still feels that way." Sincerely, Dr. Smith.
C. 7 PROOFS OF THE RESURRECTION
1. Prophesied 5X in O.T. & by Christ;
2. 515 people saw Jesus risen;
3. Over a 40 day period;
4. 12 different appearances;
5. Confirmed by many miracles;
6. The Sudden & Rapid rise of Christianity;
7. The martyrdom of all the apostles (except John).
D. HIS RESURRECTION GUARNATEES OURS
TREMENDOUS IMPLICATIONS
1. John 14:19, "Because I live, you shall live also."
2. John 11:35, "I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me will live even though He dies."
3. 1 Corinthians 15:20, "But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept." The certainty of life after death gives us hope!
4. THERE WILL BE A FUTURE RAPTURE & RESURRECTION
“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” 1 Th. 4:16-17.
5. ILLUSTRATION. This anchor of hope is like receiving news ahead of its time.
a. Murdo Ewen McDonald, a prisoner of war in Germany and chaplain to American soldiers, told how he learned of the Normandy invasion of France by the Allies.
b. Early on D-Day, he was awakened and told that a Scotsman in the British prisoner of war camp wanted to see him. McDonald ran to the barbed wire that separated the two camps.
c. The Scot, who was in touch with the BBC by underground radio, spoke two words in Gaelic, meaning, "They have come."
d. McDonald ran back to the American camp and spread the news: “They have come... They have come..." and everyone knew the Allied troops had landed at Normandy.
e. The reaction was incredible. Men jumped and shouted, hugged each other, even rolled on the ground. f. Outwardly they were still captives, but inwardly they were free! That's the hope that changes life. Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed."
6. I don't know what trials you’re facing, but I'm here to tell you, that you’re free today, because Jesus has overcome death, hell and the grave!
CONCLUSION
A. MAY NOT LOOK DIFFERENT
1. The day after Christ arose, things probably looked the same.
2. Tiberius was still Caesar,
Pontius Pilate was still Governor,
the Pharisees and Sadducees still squabbled.
3. They all may have thought nothing had happened that day. But they were wrong!
B. THE CLOSING DOORS
1. The doors of commuter trains are programmed to close after a certain amount of time. As the moment nears, a loud “beeping” begins, usually accompanied by audio warnings that the doors are about to close
2. You would think, since another commuter train arrives every 4 minutes, that people would show good judgment about getting on in time or waiting for the next train. But they don’t!
3. Time after time, despite the warnings and danger, people wait till the last moment to scramble aboard. The doors often shut on them, only to rebound for a moment to let them get clear.
4. Why do people take such RISKS? But people take even greater risks by putting off a decision for Christ. Even now the warning signs are saying Christ’s 2nd Coming is any minute.
5. When those final doors of Judgment close, there won’t be a second chance. Now is the time to make your decision for Christ!
C. ALTAR CALL
1. Every one of us must be “Born Again.” Jesus said, "You must be born again." Religion and good works won’t save us.
2. Even the mother or brother of the Pope must be born again. Even Billy Graham's wife and son must be born again. 3. Not everyone talking about heaven is going there. Jesus gives us New Life through his Resurrection.
4. Do you need Christ in your life? Do you want to make a new dedication of your life? Easter is the Christian’s Independence Day/New Year's Day!
