BIBLE MESSAGES ON EASTER
Bob Marcaurelle
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Sermon 3
Annual Sermons: Vol. 2 Sermon 19
Bob Marcaurelle: 1988 Hebrews 11:27
SEEING THE INVISIBLE
One thing sadly lacking in our day is a sense of optimism and joy. In this age of material extravagance most people view life as a prison sentence. Like convicts they mark off one weary day after another. One nineteen year old girl, before taking her life, left a suicide note which said, “I am tired of trying to find ways to fill up empty days.”
The great men and women of the Bible went beyond existing to living. Like us they faced problems. They carried burdens. They lived with broken hearts and broken dreams and impossible tasks and unanswered questions. Hebrews eleven pictures people who were tortured and murdered but refused release because they looked for a better resurrection (Heb. 11:35-38). Like Moses “they endured BY SEEING HIM WHO IS INVISIBLE” (Heb. 11:27).
Today we look at some Bible characters who saw God in the midst of their trials or tests and seeing Him, found the strength to overcome.
I. MOSES: THE TEST OF DISCIPLINE (11:23-28)
Our first example is Moses. By seeing the invisible he met and passed the test of discipline, what the Bible calls chastisement. We must all, somewhere along life’s road, drink the cup of sorrow. We all encounter the cutting edge of pain, the wear and tear of tasks beyond our strength, the burden of trouble, the crumbling of dreams, the intrusion of fierce temptations.
Such was the life of Moses. See him first as he faces the discipline of waiting. The people of God, under the lash and heel of Egypt, cried to God for deliverance. But no answer came. The mighty young warrior Moses, trained in the house of Pharaoh, but with Hebrew blood in his veins, longed to lead his people to freedom. He killed an Egyptian slavedriver with his bare hands. Such was the stuff of which this young Hercules was made. The all consuming passion of his soul was - “I must set my people free!” And what did God say to him - “Moses, you must wait! This is not my time!”
Moses responded with obedience and spent forty years waiting in the desert for God’s time to come. How easy it would have been for him to shake his fist in the face of God and accuse Him of not really caring. How easy for him, in the impulsiveness of youth, to strike out on his own and leave God behind. How easy it is for us to be impatient and like Habakkuk accuse God of not caring (1:2).
How long will God allow Isis to keep on trampling the innocent? How long will He listen to our prayers and allow pornography and crime to strangle our nation? How long will He let the church play her silly little games and go unrevived? How long will He make me carry this personal burden and seem insensitive to my cries? We all know the harsh discipline of waiting.
Moses also had to face the discipline of active temptation. The text says he “chose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the riches of Christ greater than the treasures in Egypt.” He was tempted, like us, to snatch what little pleasure he could from life, and ignore the sufferings of others. Haven’t we done just that? We preach and practice non-involvement? We watch our color TV’s and forget those people who make less money than we spend on car payments.
The world has made no angry cries of protest over the two million helpless people who have been slaughtered by the Communists in Cambodia. Like the German people, who closed their eyes to what Hitler was doing to the Jews, we act like nothing has happened. We have chosen not to suffer the affliction that comes from involvement. We feed ourselves from the hog trough of Egypt, on fine clothes, expensive cars, superb homes and lavish lives.
One of England’s selfish, spoiled Queens, when she was told her subjects were starving, responded, “Let them eat cake.” This is the spirit of our day.
But, thank God, it was not the spirit of Moses. He passed the two tests of discipline. He waited upon God’s time. He wielded God’s power and spent a total of eighty years in that desert, the last forty as the leader of Israel. He turned his back on the color TV’s, the brick homes and the good life of Egypt. He paid the price but he won the prize. He delivered his people. He walked with God. He went to his grave a champion.
And when God wanted, thousands of years later, to send someone to Palestine to encourage His Son Jesus to face the ordeal of crucifixion, He laid his hand on Moses. Moses faced the test of discipline because he saw the invisible.
II. ELISHA: THE TEST OF DANGER (2 Kings 6)
Another thing that knocks the life out of us is the constant threat of danger. Life itself is risky business. It is much like walking through a mine field. We never know when our path is going to blow up in our face. The doctor says to us, “You have cancer.” The politician predicts, “Your children will live under Communism.” The economist says, “We are headed for another depression.” The ecologist says, “We are choking ourselves to death.” It is terribly hard today not to be afraid. When Job’s life caved in he said, “The thing I greatly feared has come upon me” (Job 3:25). Even in his good days he had dark forebodings of the bad days to come. And life is just as frightening for us.
A man in the Bible who faced and conquered danger was Elisha. All during his ministry the Syrians made war with Israel, but because of his influence, they would never conquer the land. Hearing that he and his young servant were at Dothan, they sent an army to capture and kill him.
That’s quite a compliment when they send an army after one preacher. Elisha’s servant woke up one morning, went outside to greet the dawn and saw the city surrounded by thousands of soldiers with their chariots and spears. He shook his master saying, “The worst has happened. The enemy is all around us.” Elisha, seeing one Soldier his servant did not see, calmly responded, “Don’t worry. We have more on our side than they have on theirs.” And then he prayed, “Lord, open this young preacher’s eyes and let him see.” And when the boy opened his eyes he saw horses of fire and chariots of fire all over the mountains surrounding the city. Elisha prayed and all the Syrian soldiers became blind and were easily captured.
Do not call this silly or simplistic. This is the heart and soul of the faith of God’s people. Our strength lies in our ability see beyond the presence and powers of evil to the presence and power of our God.
The Roman Emperor Julian stood before a group of condemned Christians and taunted them, “Where is your Carpenter now?” Their reply, “He is driving nails in the coffin of the Roman Empire.” They saw the invisible. Paul, like a dove in the claw of a hawk, stood helpless before Nero. What a picture of weakness and strength. But the true victor was Paul. Today we name our sons “Paul” and our dogs “Nero.”
We do not offer you life without danger any more than we offer you life without discipline. Your doctor may still have bad news. Your life savings may vanish. The Communists may take our land. The principalities and powers of hell might make a gigantic assault on the basic freedoms of the world. The church may, as in the First Century, be driven underground. But because of the empty tomb and the Reigning Lord, we see Him who is invisible and say, “Fear not! Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
III. ISAIAH: THE TEST OF DISILLUSIONMENT (Isa. 6)
Seeing the invisible we also endure the test of disillusionment. In all this personal and global trauma, it is so easy to lose heart and give in to despair. This inability to face up to life explains the suicidal measures men and women take to escape it. Why do young people embrace drugs? Why do girls give their bodies away like trash? Who do adults exist on alcohol?
People, knocked around by life’s discipline and dangers, having no sense of purpose and proportion, give in to disillusionment and despair. We have all walked in this hell. We have all known disillusionment over the rapid spread of evil and the snail’s pace growth of the Kingdom of God. We see it in our world and worse, we see it in ourselves.
One man in the Bible who walked this path was Isaiah. He grew up during the Golden Age of Israel and Judah. With good King Uzziah on the throne, Judah knew years of peace, prosperity and pleasure. Isaiah, a well educated young courier of the royal court, was complacent and content. He and his nation had a bright future.
Then one day the storm clouds came. News spread throughout the land that King Uzziah had become a leper. Then came the news of his death. But then, as though that shadow was not enough, another dark cloud appeared on the horizon, in the bloody spectre of Assyria.
These fierce warriors, like the Communists in Cambodia, showed no mercy, but left a trail of blood and tears everywhere they went. Isaiah’s world came crashing down because of these two headlines. The King Is Dead! The Assyrians Are At The Gate!
This young man, with the rest of his people, was gripped by disillusionment and despair. With his head bowed low his steps led him into the Temple. And there he got a glimpse of Him Who is invisible. Isaiah said, “In the year King Uzziah died - in that day when all I ever trusted in crumbled into dust; when all my dreams faded; and when I realized the colossal helplessness of man in that day I saw the Lord.”
God refused to allow him to wallow in pity. He gave him a job to do and he responded, “Here am I, send me.” And God promised him he would fail. He promised him the people would not listen to him (6:9-10). Isaiah, like you and I, cried out, “How long must I do this?” And God said, “Until the city lies in ruins at your feet” (6:11). In other words - “Until I tell you to stop.”
In a few months I will be forty and will enter a period of life which claims many victims. These are the years when it is so easy to get discouraged, to lose enthusiasm and to coast to retirement without accepting the dangers of involvement. At forty, one realizes that most of the evils and injustices are just as strong as they were 20 years ago. All of the really difficult questions: why war, why sin, why suffering - are still unanswered and unanswerable.
Why then should we keep beating our fists against an evil that will not go down? Why keep trying to find answers to questions with no answers? Why keep trying to spread the gospel when so few respond? Why keep trying to lead the church to new levels of devotion when most church members are satisfied on the fringes? Why? Because this is our high and holy assignment from God.
This life, with its sin and sorrow, is a test, and the real battlefield is within the souls of individuals. God is going to populate heaven with those who refuse to be conquered by sin or sorrow and walk bloody but unbowed by their faith - by their ability, with Isaiah, to see the invisible God, high and holy and lifted up. Those who say, “God, I can’t explain the ‘why’ of evil and I probably won’t make much of the an impact, but here am I, send me.” And even if I fail, I will die trying.
IV. STEPHEN: THE TEST OF DEATH (Acts 7)
Life’s final test is death. We face this test like we face all the others, by seeing Him who is invisible. Our example here is Stephen, a young preacher whose execution is recorded in Acts chapter seven. He is a brilliant young man, well versed in the scriptures and highly competent as a speaker.
But he has committed the unpardonable crime of preaching Jesus as the Son of God to those who had murdered Him. They snarled at him. They seized him in their rough hands. They threw him to the ground and started pounding him with stones. In this dirt and pain and blood, Stephen stood face to face with death. His strong body, his brilliant mind, his powerful tongue, were all being pounded into the devil’s dirt.
But Stephen looked up through the pain and blood and dirt; and beyond the twisted faced of his murderers and he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55). And in this sight there was power, the power to forgive those who took his life. And in this sight there was peace. The Bible says “he fell asleep” (Acts 7:60). Amid the angry shouts and the falling rocks, this child of God faced death like a little child going to sleep in its mother’s arms.
The message of the empty tomb is that through vital contact with the invisible world all around us, victory is possible. Like Moses we can face life’s disciplines and use them as stepping stones to God. Like Elisha we can face dangers and see in them the power of God. Like Isaiah we can face disillusionment and strike out little blows for the kingdom of God. And like Stephen we can face death with no more fear than a child falling asleep in its mother’s arms. We do it by seeing the invisible!
