Power For Pressures
Easter Psalm 46:1-11 Matthew 28:1-20
There were pressures of all kinds hanging around after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Mary was dealing with the pressures of grief and anger over the death of her first born son , murdered as he was without cause. There were the pressures of confusion and unemployment for Matthew the former tax collector who had left his jobs years ago to follow one called Jesus, and now he’s gone and Matt doesn’t have a job. There was the pressure of feeling like a failure, for Peter who had believed in his heart that he could stand by the side of Jesus Christ at the expense of his own life. But when push came to shove, three times in order to save his own hide, he cried out "I don’t know the man. There was the pressure of a dream shattered into a million pieces, by Mary Magdaline, Martha, Mary, Lazarus and others who were hoping for something better in life through following Jesus.
Pressures of life. We all have them don’t we. Ever grieved the loss of loved one. Ever got righteously angry over an injustice. Ever been in confusion because of a job. Ever felt like a failure at school, at home or on the job. Ever had a dream that shattered into pieces before your very eyes. Pressures can land us in the hospital.
The bad thing about pressures is that instead of leading us to God, they often lead us to worrying. Yet when it comes to worrying 40% of all worries will never happen. 30% concern old decisions which cannot be altered, 12% center in on criticism, mostly untrue, made by people who feel inferior, 10% relate to health, which worsens while you worry, and only 8% are legitimate which you can do something about.
The last week of Jesus’ life on earth was the most pressure filled of all. He had to listen to the praises of the people talking about how wonderful he was on Sunday, knowing these same people would be shouting crucify him on Thursday. He determined to love and embrace his disciple Judas, knowing that Judas was going to betray him for money. He had to endure unbelievable agony on the cross, knowing that at any moment some 72,000 angels were waiting for the word to take him down and end it all.
He suffered the penalty of God turning away from him because of all the sin we have and shall commit was piled upon him, as he cried out "My God, My God why have you forsaken me." He yielded His spirit into the hands of God as his mortal flesh suffered death saying," Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."
But the message of Easter is that those words, were not the last words of Jesus Christ. For the Bible goes on to say that on the third day. That mortal body that death had taken over was transformed into an immortal body. That spirit that had been trusted to the Father, came back into the body. That body got up, and didn’t have to move the pressures of that huge stone that had been sealed into the tomb. Instead he walked right through the stone and came on out, so when the women and the disciples got there they did not find his body. Instead they saw the remnants of the resurrection power.
All that was left in that tomb of Jesus was some of the linen cloths they had wrapped around him when he died. There were angels on the scene that told them to go back and let the world know Jesus is alive, and He has risen just like he said. The Spirit of God had spoken and Jesus was filled once again with awesome power.
The good news about the pressures we face in life today is, the same spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead wants to raise us up and above our pressures. If you feel like you don’t know if you can make it, if you feel like your body just wants to give out, the meaning of Easter is that God has provided power for you to be resurrected. Romans 8:11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
How did Jesus get to the point of experiencing the power of God to handle the pressures he faced before the resurrection. By looking at the Scriptures, we kind find some principles for handling pressures.
Principle number one is to turn everything over to God. In the Amplified Version of the Bible, 1 Peter 5:6-7 reads, "Cast all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns once and for all on Him. For he cares for you.
Three observations about this passage, the first is that God is concerned about you. The word cares literally means to be concerned. God is concerned about your concerns. Too often we don’t want others to be concerned with what’s pressuring us. Our friends ask what’s wrong, without thinking we lie and say, "Oh nothing everything is all right." Aren’t you glad that you can’t fool God. God is concerned about it because the pressure concerns us.
The second observation is that God is concerned about everything, not just the big things. Did you notice all the times word "all is used in this passage, all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns one and for all. There is something about us which causes us to think we can handle all kinds of pressures. Often times we do, however each of us has something which causes us to fall to pieces over it when it builds in our lives.
We make a big mistake in thinking there are some areas God is concerned about in my life, but the other areas God has just left me to handle on my own. Do you know why we don’t receive some help with some of the pressures we face? It’s simple, we don’t ask for it. We don’t ask others, and we don’t even ask God. The reason we don’t ask is because we have pride and don’t want to be humble and say, "God I need you to be in control of my life."
Some of us will fail a course in school before admitting we need a tutor. Some of us will let a marriage go to pieces before we admit we need some outside assistance. Some of us will go hungry before we tell somebody else we’re out of food. Some of us will make a fool of ourselves on our jobs before we admit we don’t know what we are doing. Some of us will let drugs ruin our lives and the lives of those around us before we admit that we have a problem. All the while, the pressure is building.
Pride keeps us from declaring, "God you’ve got control of my life. I’ve got to turn over every area of my life to you." We don’t like to admit that we need God. All of us men know what it’s like to be in the car and let pride take over when we’re lost. I can recall as 12 year old riding in Rochester with my aunt’s boyfriend. The car was filled with about seven of us, and it was obvious that we had been going around in circles for the last half an hour. My aunt finally said to him, Charles I think we need to stop and asked somebody for directions. He replied, "I know exactly where I am now." My cousin Nora responded, "Well you ought to, we been by here about 5 times ." Don’t let pride rob you of the opportunity to have some of your pressures released. Jesus didn’t have any problem telling the world I’m thirsty as he was hanging on the cross.
Not only is God concerned about you, and not only is God concerned about everything, not just the big things, God wants your pressures now. Peter said to give them all to him once and for all. Get rid of them now. We come to church, and we say "Here are my pressures Lord, they’re yours. I have had it, and I can’t take it anymore. No sooner than the service is over ,we start asking God if we can have them back so that we might have something to worry about during the week.
By Monday, we have completely stolen back every pressure from God, and then blame God for not doing something about them. The verse didn’t say turn your pressures over to Jesus on Sunday and steal them back before Monday. A modern day translation of the verse would say, "Give your pressures and cares over to God, and keep your hands in your pockets so that you can steal them and run away again.
The second principle in handling pressures is to understand your purpose in life. If we have a purpose in life, we can handle pressure more effectively. The greater your purpose, the greater the power you have in handling problems. The less purpose in life, the more easy it is for us to give and let go. Jesus’ purpose was not to end up with the pressures of the cross, but to end up seated at the right hand of the throne of God. For The Scriptures tell us in Hebrews 12:2-3 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. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
It’s the purpose you have for your life that will help you to hang tough under the pressures of live when they close in on you. Some of you start your day before the sun is up and are busy until the sun goes down, and you’re bored with it because it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. What’s the purpose in it all. My friends, like Jesus, we’ve got to look beyond what our immediate circumstances are and realize there is something else going on. God has a purpose for your life. Don’t try to always dodge the pressures that come. Determine that those pressures are going to help you develop a greater character and a closer walk with Jesus Christ.
If you know Jesus as your Savior God has placed some of the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. Like the Apostle Paul we can say 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
2 Corinthians 4:16-17 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Every child of God has a purpose. I like what Yvonne said, when she said that purpose is not always for us to do something great, but sometimes its to help somebody else along the way.
The third principle in handling pressures is to give up your rights. Now this goes against what the world will tell you. As Americans, we love to talk about our rights. Child you got a right to beat the daylights out of him. You’ve got a right to take all the money? You’ve got a right to tell her off. Ain’t nobody got the right to touch me. To often, the fight to have our rights causes bitterness, anxiety, restlessness and anger. These deadly emotions come from fighting to get your rights. How did Jesus handle the pressures during his last week. He gave up his rights. He gave up the right to beat the daylights out of Judas for betraying him. Gave up the right to fight in the Garden when the soldiers came to get him. He gave up the right to come down off the cross.
Strong people give up their rights much quicker than weak people. Strong people understand there’s always going to be another day, and something bigger and something more important may be involved here than fighting over this point. Weak people can sometimes only see is their rights are being taken away.
When Abraham Lincoln was an attorney, a rich man came to him who was after his rights. Nobody was going to get over on him. A man had borrowed $2.50 from this rich man and had not repaid it. Lincoln didn’t want to take the case, but he came up with an idea. He told the rich man, "ill represent you but it’s going to cost $10. The man said it will be worth it, just to let him know that he can’t get away with not paying me back my money. The rich guy gave him $10 and told Lincoln to go get that no good liar. Lincoln went to the man that owed his client. He gave the poor fellow $5 and told him, here you pay the $2.50 and keep $2.50. Lincoln then kept the other $5. A few days later the rich man thanked Lincoln for really socking it the man who owed him the money. How often do we pay way to much in unneeded pressures for protecting our rights?
Some of us are hurting in our relationships with others because we are holding on to our rights. Meanwhile the pressure is building. I’m not about to speak to her after what she said to me. He was in the wrong, let him come apologize to me. After all I did for her, and then she still went out and did what she did. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I do anything else. You know you may have all the good reasons to justify your lack of action. But can you quit thinking about your pain long enough to consider another verse in the Scriptures.
The word says in Phil 2:4-5 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: I think we all understand that Jesus gave up his rights. He literally gave up his own will and right to live. In that passage in Philippians, we can see that Jesus humbled and emptied himself. It was in that humbling and emptying process that He found a power to lift him beyond the pressures of his life. The Scriptures say then, God the Father, lifted him up and exalted him above all other names.
You see, we give up our rights and consecrate ourselves, and then God does a work in our lives that never would happen as long as we are trying to keep control. The reason Paul was so effective in ministry is that he didn’t have to survive. Why can a few Palestinians demand the world’s attention in their bombing attacks? Because they are so committed to a cause, they have given up their rights to have to survive. It’s hard to stop a person who is willing to die for something.
The moment you and I have to survive, is the moment somebody can buy us or put limits on us. We will compromise to settle pressures in ways that God never intended for us to handle them. Jesus didn’t have to survive the crucifixion. As a matter of fact, his resurrection proved that He didn’t survive it. He died on that cross. But His resurrection also proved that death was not the end. There is a lot of theology in that Negro spiritual, and "before I’ll be a slave, I’ll be buried in my grave."
Are you determined that before you allow your pressures to turn you away from God, you’d give up your right to life itself? We are not truly able to live free from the tyranny of our pressures, until we are free from the fear of dying. There is power available in the resurrection of Jesus Christ to overcome even the fear of the pressure of death. When our hope and confidence is in Jesus Christ, the Scriptures ask the question 1 Corinthians 15:55 "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"
The fourth principle in handling pressure is to become a generous person. Do you know that Jesus was still giving in the midst of that pressure filled final week? One of the last things he gave was Himself. He told the disciples as they ate their last meal together, this bread is my body which is broken for you. This wine is my blood which is shed for you.
On the cross he offered forgiveness, saying "Father please for give them, for they do not know what they were doing." To the thief on the cross who said, "Lord would you remember be, when you come into your kingdom." Jesus looked over and offered him a place in paradise.
You see the Scriptures say, in Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." To serve and to give really go together. You give up your rights and you become a giver, because you’re not demanding anymore. You’re wanting to give. Socrates, said know thyself, Cicero said control thyself, but Jesus said Give thyself. Ella Wilcox wrote a poem indicating the two kinds of people she saw on earth.
There are two kind of persons on earth today.
Just two kinds of people--no more, I say.
Not the good and the bad, for it’s well understood,
That the good are half bad, and the bad, half good.
No, there are just two kinds of people on earth, I mean
The people who lift, and people who lean.
You see the lifter asks, "What can I give?" The leaner asks, "What can I receive? The lifter asks, "Who needs me?", and the leaner says, "Who do I need?". The lifter has other people in mind, and the leaner has only himself in mind. One is selfless and one is selfish.
If you want to discover the power for pressures in your life, quit taking shortcuts. Go for excellence in your life. Seek to please God in the way you handle pressures. Go the second mile if that’s what it takes. Excellence and obedience is the way to receive the power from God so that you can give it your best shot. Quit asking, "how little is expected of me to get by?" Instead give your life to doing your very best and see what happens.
The way that Jesus handled the pressures of his last week culminated in the greatest power the world had ever known. He is now Lord of Lord and King of Kings. That same power is available to us for the pressures us. Our key is found in first knowing Jesus as our Lord and Savior, turning everything over to God, finding a purpose in our lives, giving up our rights, becoming a giver and determining to glorify God thorough our determination to do our best. Jesus was able to say, It is finished.
Questions For The Sermon
(If you listen to the sermon, the answers will be given in the order of the questions)
1. Who felt like a failure because he did not stand by the side of Jesus Christ? ___________
2. How much worry can we actually do something about? (circle the answer)
40% 30% 12% 8% 5% 2%
3. How many angels could Jesus have called to help him off the cross?
85,000 72,000 62,000 50,000 1
4. What was left in the tomb for the disciples to see when they looked in? (two words)
_____________
5. What keeps us from asking others for help when we need it?_____________
6. When does want us to give Him our pressures? ___________
7. What do we need for our lives in the second principle for handling pressures?____________
8. What do we have to give up to handle pressure? _______________
9. Who was the attorney in the sermon ?________________
10. What kind of person do we need to become to handle pressure?_______________
11. What are the two kinds of persons in the world according to poem?________________
12. What do we have to stop taking if we want to discover the power for pressures?.___________
13. What was the last word of the sermon by Jesus?____________
Name________________________ Age______________
