"IT’S FRIDAY BUT SUNDAY IS COMING"
READ LUKE 23:44-46
IN 1948 HARRY S TRUMAN RAN FOR RE-ELECTION AS THE 33RD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. IT WAS TRUMAN’S FIRST TIME TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT. HE BECAME PRESIDENT WHEN FDR DIED 83 DAYS INTO HIS 4TH TERM. TRUMAN WAS RUNNING AGAINST THOMAS DEWEY AND EVERY PUBLIC OPINION POLL PREDICATED THAT DEWEY WOULD WIN A LANDSLIDE.
NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE POLLED 50 TOP POLITICAL EXPERTS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY AND THEY GAVE DEWEY 366 ELECTORAL VOTES, 100 MORE THAN HE NEEDED TO WIN.
THE FT. LAUDERDALE DAILY NEWS FLATLY ANNOUNCED THAT DEWEY WOULD GET AT LEAST 62% OF THE VOTE.
LIFE MAGAZINE FEATURED A FULL-PAGE PICTURE OF DEWEY WITH CAPTION, "THE NEW PRESIDENT TRAVELS BY FERRYBOAT OVER THE BROAD WATERS OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY:
THE KIPLINGER LETTER ALREADY ON THE DESK OF LEADING BUSINESS MEN, DESCRIBED THE ECONOMIC POLICIES OF THE NEW DEWEY ADMINISTRATION.
AND THE MANCHESTER GUARDIAN’S FINAL ELECTION REPORT WAS CALLED - "HARRY S TRUMAN - STUDY OF A FAILURE."
THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE HAD ALREADY PUBLISHED AS THEIR HEADLINE DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.
ON ELECTION NIGHT WHILE DEWEY WAS IN NEW YORK WORKING OUT THE FINAL BUGS OF HIS ACCEPTANCE SPEECH, HARRY TRUMAN WAS IN EXCELSIOR SPRINGS MO, TAKING A TURKISH BATH, EATING A HAM SANDWICH AND DRINKING A GLASS OF MILK WATCHING THE LISTENING TO THE ELECTION RETURNS.
"AT 6 O’CLOCK I WAS DEFEATED, I WAS DEFEATED AT 10 O’CLOCK, AT MIDNIGHT I HEARD THE REPORT THAT I WAS 1,200,000 A HEAD BUT WAS STILL UNDOUBTEDLY BEATEN."
TRUMAN WENT TO BED AND WAS AWAKENED AT 4 AM BY A SECRET SERVICE MAN WHO TOLD HIM HE WAS AHEAD BY OVER 2,000,000 - BUT THE COMMENTATOR CONTINUED TO SAY HE COULDN’T SEE HOW TRUMAN COULD BE ELECTED...
DESPITE ALL THE COMMENTATORS, NEWSPAPER AND THE ALL THE POLLS THAT SAID HE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE THE REMOTEST CHANCE OF WINNING, HARRY S TRUMAN WAS STILL THE ELECTED CHOICE OF THE PEOPLE AS THEIR PRESIDENT...
WHAT LOOKED LIKE SURE DEFEAT TURNED INTO A GREAT VICTORY...
THE SAME IS TRUE OF CHRIST VICTORY AT CALVARY... WHEN MANY VIEWED WHAT TRANSPIRED ON THAT "NOT SO" GOOD FRIDAY 2,000 YEARS AGO -- THE OPINION POLLS WERE SAYING THAT JESUS WAS DEFEATED... THAT HE HAD LOST AND THE JEWISH LEADERS HAD WON...
WHILE JESUS HUNG ON THE CROSS HIS OPPONENTS WERE PLANNING THERE VICTORY PARTY AND WRITING THE HEADLINES FOR THE JERUSALEM CONSTITUTION... "JESUS DEFEATED AT CALVARY!"
THE SIGNAL THAT SEEMED TO BE COMING THROUGH THE DENSE FOG OF THOSE EVENTS WAS THAT IT WAS FINISHED -- IT WAS OVER -- JESUS LOST. THE FOG THAT HOVERED OVER JERUSALEM, AND OVER THE WORLD ON THAT FRIDAY WAS DARK, IT WAS THICK... IT LOOKED LIKE ANYTHING BUT A VICTORY....
IT BEGAN IN A LONELY GARDEN -- JESUS WAS IN THE UPPER ROOM WITH THE 11 (JUDAS HAD ALREADY LEFT TO PERFORM HIS DEED OF BETRAYAL). AND RIGHT BEFORE JESUS LEFT WITH THEM TO HEAD TOWARDS THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE JESUS SAID;
JOHN 14:28-31
THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD, SATAN WAS COMING FOR JESUS --COMING TO ATTACK OUR LORD WITH ALL HE HAD... AS JESUS WALKED WITH THE 11 TO THE GARDEN HE CONTINUED TO TEACH THEM ON THE WAY;
TEACHING THEM ABOUT THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES ABOUT HOW THEY MUST REMAIN IN HIM -- OBEY HIM (IF THEY WERE TO SURVIVE) - AND HE WARNED THAT THE ONE WHO DOES NOT REMAIN IN HIM IS LIKE A BRANCH THAT IS THROWN AWAY AND WITHERS AND SUCH BRANCHES HE SAYS ARE PICKED UP AND THROWN INTO THE FIRE.....
AND ON THE WAY JESUS ALSO TAUGHT THEM ABOUT HOW THEY WOULD BE HATED BECAUSE OF HIM AND HE TOLD THEM OF THE COMFORTER THAT WOULD SOON COME AND BE WITH THEM...
AND AFTER DESCENDING THE MT OF OLIVES THEY CAME TO THE GARDEN..... THERE JESUS WAS TO DO BATTLE WITH THE EVIL ONE. REMEMBER AFTER JESUS WAS TEMPTED BY SATAN AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS MINISTRY -- SATAN FAILED/IT DIDN’T WORK -- AND LUKE 4:13 READS, "WHEN THE DEVIL HAD FINISHED ALL THIS TEMPTING, HE LEFT HIM UNTIL AN OPPORTUNE TIME."
YOU KNOW, IT IS ONLY FITTING THAT THIS BATTLE TAKE PLACE HERE, AFTER ALL IT WAS IN A GARDEN THAT MAN FIRST GAVE INTO THE EVIL ONE AND SINNED DISOBEYING GOD’S WORD, AND NOW THOUSANDS OF YEARS LATER IN ANOTHER GARDEN JESUS FIGHTS THE ULTIMATE BATTLE WITH SATAN, BUT THIS TIME THE SERPENT WOULD BE CRUSHED AS JESUS CHOOSES TO BE OBEDIENT TO GOD’S WORD/WILL ... EVEN TO THE POINT OF DEATH..
WHEN JESUS ENTERED THE GARDEN HE LEFT THE 11 (SCRIPTURE SAYS), JUST A STONES THROW AWAY... SAYING TO THEM, "MY SOUL IS OVERWHELMED WITH SORROW TO THE POINT OF DEATH. STAY HERE AND KEEP WATCH WITH ME...."
AND JESUS FELL TO HIS KNEES AND PRAYED AND PRAYED TO THE FATHER -- HE WAS SO OVERCOME WITH EMOTIONS.... THAT HE JUST THREW HIMSELF FACE DOWN TO THE GROUND PRAYING TO GOD WITH SUCH INTENSITY IT WAS AS IF HE WAS SWEATING DROPS OF BLOOD....
YOU SEE, JESUS KNEW THE CUP HE MUST SOON DRINK OF -- THE CUP OF GOD’S WRATH -- THE CUP OF GOD’S JUDGEMENT OF SIN -- THE CUP THAT WHEN HE DRANK IT WOULD FOR A TIME, SEPARATE HIM FROM THE FATHER.. AS JESUS BORE THE SINS OF THE WORLD ON THE CROSS AND THE HOLY FATHER TURNED AWAY.
WHEN THE DARK CLOUD HOVERED OVER THE GARDEN, WHEN JESUS WAS PRAYING IN SUCH DEEP SORROW, WHEN THE DISCIPLES FELL ASLEEP JUST A FEW FEET AWAY UNABLE TO BE TO SUPPORT JESUS, WHEN JUDAS COMES AND GIVES JESUS THAT KISS OF BETRAYAL -- WHEN THE SOLDIERS COME AND BIND JESUS, TAKING HIM AWAY -- THE DISCIPLES FLEEING INTO THE JUDEAN NIGHT.... WHEN OF THIS HAPPENED -- IT LOOKED LIKE ANYTHING BUT VICTORY, THE DARK FORCES OF THIS WORLD THOUGHT THE VICTORY WAS SOON TO BE THEIRS
-- BUT IT WAS ONLY FRIDAY AND SUNDAY WAS COMING...
WHEN PETER WAS WARMING IN HANDS IN THE FIRE -- PETER THE ONE WHO HAD SPOKEN SUCH WORDS OF CONFIDENCE... WHEN THE ROOSTER CROWED AND PETER DENIED EVER EVEN KNOWING JESUS -- WHEN ONE OF JESUS STRONGEST FOLLOWERS DENIED HIM IT DID NOT LOOKED LIKE VICTORY... -- BUT THAT WAS FRIDAY AND SUNDAY WAS COMING....
THEN CAME THE MOCKINGS, THE BEATINGS -- THE TEMPLE GUARDS PUTTING A BLIND FOLD ON JESUS -- THEN EACH TAKING TURNS BEATING JESUS WITH THEIR FISTS, THE BLOOD POURING FROM HIS NOSE AND MOUTH.... AND AS THEY HIT JESUS THEY MOCKED HIM "COME JESUS IF YOU ARE REALLY A PROPHET TELL US (SMACK) WHO IS HITTING YOU..."
-- THAT WAS FRIDAY, BUT SUNDAY WAS COMING...
LATER, THEY WOULD TIE JESUS TO A ROMAN SCOURGING POST -- STRETCHING THE SKIN ON HIS BACK TIGHT. AND THEN 39 TIMES A SCOURGE -- IT’S 9 STRANDS EMBEDDED WITH GLASS -- LEAD AND BROKEN PIECES OF POTTERY RIPPED ACROSS THE BACK OF JESUS -- TEARING OUT CHUNKS OF SKIN, FLESH AND MUSCLE... NOW, THE ROMAN SOLDIER DOING THIS CRUEL JOB WAS VERY PROFICIENT AT BRINGING A MAN INTENSE PAIN AND AT THE SAME TIME KEEPING HIM "THIS CLOSE" TO DEATH SO HIS VICTIM WOULD SUFFER LONGER.
AS JESUS HUNG THERE HANDS BOND, BLOOD POURING FROM HIS BODY -- WINCING IN PAIN... AT THIS MOMENT THE ROMANS AND THE JEWISH LEADERS -- MAY HAVE THOUGHT THAT THEY HAD WON, THAT THEY FINALLY HAD JESUS WALKING DOWN THE ROAD THEY WANTED...
-- BUT THAT WAS FRIDAY AND SUNDAY WAS COMING...
AND WHEN THE CROWD WHO LESS THAN A WEEK AGO SHOUTED HOSANNA TO THE SON OF DAVID BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD -- WHEN JESUS RODE INTO JERUSALEM TRIUMPHANTLY ... WHEN THOSE SAME PEOPLE WHO WHEN PILATE ASKED THEM, "WHAT SHALL I DO THEN WITH THE ONE YOU CALL KING OF THE JEWS?" WHEN THEY RESOUNDED WITH "CRUCIFY HIM! CRUCIFY JESUS!! -- IT DID NOT LOOK LIKE VICTORY,
-- BUT THAT WAS FRIDAY AND SUNDAY WAS COMING!
AND AS THEY LED JESUS CARRYING HIS CROSS THROUGH THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM.... UP AND DOWN THOSE WINDING DIRT ROADS.... THE SOLDIERS PURPOSELY TAKING THE LONGEST ROUTE -- SO ALL COULD SEE WHAT HAPPENS TO ANYONE WHO DARES TO DEFY ROME... THE STREETS ARE LINED WITH THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, REMEMBER THIS HAPPENED DURING THE PASSOVER FEAST AT TIME WHEN JERUSALEM SWELLED TO THE MILLIONS AS PILGRIMS MADE THEIR WAY TO THE CITY OF DAVID... AND ALSO LET’S REMEMBER THE ROMAN LAW THAT SAID IF THAT ON THE WAY TO THE CRUCIFIXION AS THE MARCHED THROUGH THE STREETS IF ANYONE WOULD JUMP OUT AND SAY -- THIS MAN IS INNOCENT THE WHOLE PROCEEDINGS WOULD STOP....
WHEN JESUS WALKED BY THOSE WHO HE HAD HEALED AND THEY EACH IN TURN LOOKED AWAY/DENYING JESUS.... IT DID NOT LOOK LIKE VICTORY....
-- BUT THAT WAS FRIDAY AND SUNDAY WAS COMING....
AND WHEN JESUS CHRIST, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, GOD IN THE FLESH -- WHEN JESUS WAS STRIPPED NAKED AND NAILED TO THE CROSS.... WITH EVERY BREATHE PUSHING UP ON THOSE SPIKES IN HIS FEET -- PULLING UP ON THOSE SPIKES IN HIS WRIST... SCRAPPING HIS EXPOSED BACK AND ORGANS AGAINST THAT RUGGED CROSS OF WOOD, AS HUNDREDS AROUND HIM ARE LAUGHING AT HIM, MOCKING HIM, RIDICULING HIM --INSULTING HIM, AS JESUS HUNG SUSPEND BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH, BLOOD POURING FROM HIS WOUNDS, BLOOD STREAMING DOWN HIS FACE AND CHEEKS -- AS JESUS CRIED OUT, "MY GOD, MY GOD WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME..." WHEN JESUS RAISED UP AND BREATHED FOR THE LAST TIME AND SAID "IT IS FINISHED".... HUNG HIS HEAD AND DIED.... AS THE SKY TURNED BLACK -- AS THE DARK CLOUDS SWALLOWED JERUSALEM -- IT LOOKED LIKE ANYTHING BUT VICTORY;
AND I AM SURE THAT ON THAT DARK FRIDAY NIGHT PARTIES WERE BEING THROWN THROUGHOUT THE CITY AS THE PHARISEES, TEACHERS OF THE LAW, THE SADDUCEES AND CORRUPTED PRIESTHOOD CELEBRATED THE DEATH OF JESUS.... AND SATAN AND HIS DEMONS WERE NO DOUBT THROWING A PARTY THEMSELVES....
-- BUT MY FRIENDS IT WAS ONLY FRIDAY AND SUNDAY WAS COMING....
IT MAY HAVE LOOKED LIKE DEFEAT, BUT THE FOG WAS LIFTING AND VICTORY WAS ON IT’S WAY.... JESUS CHRIST WITH GREAT POWER WAS ABOUT TO BURST FORTH FROM THE GRAVE -- SUNDAY WAS COMING...
( AT THIS TIME I WANT YOU TO PICK UP YOUR HYMNAL AN TURN TO HYMN 564 -- WE ARE GOING TO SING ALL THREE STANZAS AND LIKE THE RESURRECTION THIS HYMN IS DESCRIBING.... IT STARTS OUT SLOW AS WE PICTURE FRIDAY BUT AS WE SING THE CHORUS AND SUNDAY COMES TO A CLIMAX.)
SING NOW.....
HE AROSE! HE AROSE! HALLELUJAH! CHRIST AROSE! THE TOMB IS EMPTY, HE IS NOT THERE! HE IS ALIVE!!! JESUS IS ALIVE!! DO YOU BELIEVE THIS? DO YOU REJOICE IN THIS.... ARE YOU THANKFUL THAT YOU SERVE A RISEN SAVIOR....? A SAVIOR WHO IS IN THE WORLD STILL TODAY. DO YOU KNOW THAT HE IS STILL WITH US NO MATTER WHAT MEN MIGHT SAY... DO YOU SEE HIS HAND OF MERCY? DO YOU HEAR HIS VOICE OF CHEER? AND MY BROTHERS JUST THE TIME WE NEED HIM -- JESUS CHRIST IS ALWAYS NEAR!!!
ARE YOU THANKFUL THAT THROUGH THE RESURRECTION JESUS TORE AWAY THE BARS OF DEATH AND SIN, THAT HAD HELD US CAPTIVE FOR SO LONG....
WHAT ON FRIDAY LOOKED TO BE A TERRIBLE DEFEAT TURNED OUT TO BE THE GREATEST VICTORY OF ALL TIME.... THE RESURRECTION WAS THE MOMENT THE WORLD HAD BEEN WAITING FOR -- AND IT WAS THE THING THAT THE WORLD SO DESPERATELY NEEDED..
THE RESURRECTION IS WHY JESUS CAME TO THE EARTH AND IT IS BECAUSE OF HIS RESURRECTION THAT WE WHO ARE IN HIM CAN LOOK FORWARD TO HIS COMING....
THE RESURRECTION IS THE MAJOR THEME IN THE NEW TESTAMENT;
AS THE APOSTLES STOOD BEFORE: THE JEWISH PEOPLE, THE JEWISH LEADERS, GENTILES, PHILOSOPHERS, ROMANS OFFICIALS, SOLDIERS, KINGS AND PRINCE’S; FRIENDS AND FOES -- AS THEY STOOD BEFORE ALL OF MANKIND THEY PREACHED THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD.... WHY?
BECAUSE THE RESURRECTION IS THE MOST POWERFUL EVENT IN ALL OF HUMAN HISTORY BECAUSE IT HAS THE POWER TO TRANSFORM OUR LIVES... YOU SEE JESUS DID NOT RAISE FROM THE DEAD FOR US TO REMAIN THE SAME -- FOR OUR LIVES TO GO ON AS USUAL -- HE CAME, HE DIED AND HE ROSE TO SAVE US AND TO TRANSFORM US....
I’D LIKE TO BRIEFLY TALK ABOUT 4 TRANSFERS WE SHOULD UNDERGO BECAUSE OF THE RESURRECTION...
I.THE RESURRECTION CAN TRANSFER US FROM UNBELIEF TO BELIEF
HE WAS NOT WITH THE OTHERS. PERHAPS HE JUST NEEDED TIME TO BE ALONE; TO THINK, TO SORT THINGS OUT -- TO SIFT THROUGH ALL OF THE QUESTIONS RUNNING THROUGH HIS MIND, OR MAYBE HE NEEDED TO BE ALONE JUST TO FORGET, TO FORGET IT ALL AND LET HIS MIND THINK ON MORE PLEASANT THOUGHTS. BEING WITH THE OTHER WOULD ONLY REKINDLED THOSE MEMORIES AND SET HIS MIND A BLAZE WITH PAINFUL IMAGES....
BUT BECAUSE HE WASN’T WITH THEM, BECAUSE HE WASN’T WITH THE OTHER BELIEVERS, HE MISSED OUT ON A REAL BLESSING AND A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE HIS FAITH STRENGTHENED AND RENEWED.
LIKE MOST PEOPLE IN THAT DAY HE HAD 2 NAMES: "THOMAS" WAS HIS ARAMAIC NAME, AND "DIDYMUS" WAS HIS GREEK NAME, AND THEY BOTH MEAN TWIN. NOW WE DON’T KNOW WHETHER THOMAS HAD A PHYSICAL TWIN -- BUT THERE ARE MANY IN THE CHURCH TODAY WHO ARE HIS SPIRITUAL TWIN.
MANY HAVE NOT LEARNED THE LESSON FROM THOMAS AND THEY
CHOOSE LIKE THOMAS TO BE ALONE TO WORK THINGS OUT THEIR OWN WAY RATHER THAN TO MEET WITH THE LORD’S PEOPLE AND HAVE THEIR FAITH STRENGTHENED AND RENEWED.
THOMAS STANDS AS A GOOD WARNING TO ALL OF US NOT TO MISS MEETING WITH GOD’S PEOPLE ON THE LORD’S DAY (HEB 10:22-25). BECAUSE THOMAS WAS NOT THERE, HE MISSED SEEING JESUS, HEARING HIS VOICE, AND HEARING JESUS WORDS OF PEACE AND COMFORT... THOMAS HAD TO ENDURE ANOTHER WEEK OF SORROW AND UNBELIEF, WHEN HE COULD HAVE EXPERIENCED JOY AND PEACE. REMEMBER THOMAS THE NEXT TIME YOU ARE TEMPTED TO STAY HOME FROM CHURCH... BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT SPECIAL BLESSING YOU MAY MISS...
JOHN 20:24,25
BECAUSE HE WASN’T THERE HE HAD TO ENDURE YET ONE MORE WEEK OF DOUBTS, FEAR, UNBELIEF AND SUFFERING.
BUT LET’S GIVE THOMAS CREDIT, FOR HE DID SHOW UP THE NEXT WEEK... HE MAY HAVE MISSED ONE WEEK -- BUT I DON’T THINK HE MISSED ANYMORE.
JOHN 20:26-29
WHEN THOMAS MET THE RISEN LORD HIS UNBELIEF WAS TURNED INTO BELIEF AS HE FELL TO HIS KNEES AND CRIED, "MY LORD AND MY GOD..."
THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT ENCOUNTERING A MAN RAISED FROM THE DEAD, THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT STANDING FACE TO FACE WITH THE RISEN LORD THAT CAUSES A MAN TO UNDERGO A TRANSFORMATION FROM UNBELIEF TO BELIEF.
IN THE 1930’S A BRITISH LAWYER BY THE NAME OF FRANK MORRISON SET OUT TO PROVE ONCE AND FOR ALL THAT RESURRECTION WAS A JUST A FABLE, SHEER FANTASY. AS A LAWYER HE FELT HE WAS WELL QUALIFIED TO WEIGH THE EVIDENCE AND COME UP WITH A VERDICT. BUT AS HE RESEARCHED HE DID NOT FIND THINGS AS HE EXPECTED... THE 1ST CHAPTER OF HIS BOOK IS CALLED "THE BOOK THAT REFUSED TO BE WRITTEN..." IN IT HE DESCRIBES HOW HE BECAME CONVINCED OF THE BODILY RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST.. THE BOOK IS CALLED "WHO MOVED THE STONE..."
WHEN PEOPLE TODAY CONSIDER AND WEIGHT THE EVIDENCE...
WHEN THEY CONSIDER THE FACT THAT JESUS LIVED -- THE PROPHECIES THAT HE FULFILLED (AND WE HAVE MSS THAT DATE BEFORE HIS BIRTH..) WHEN THEY CONSIDER THE BIRTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, WORSHIP CHANGED FROM SATURDAY TO SUNDAY, THE CHANGE IN THE WORLD’S CALENDARS ALL OF TIME REVOLVES AROUND JESUS (AD/BC), EVERY TIME WE DATE A LETTER OR A CHECK WE ARE TESTIFYING TO JESUS CHRIST, AND WHEN WE CONSIDER THE EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY OF OVER 500 PEOPLE WHO SAW JESUS OVER A PERIOD OF 40 DAYS, WHEN WE CONSIDER THE EMPTY TOMB AND THAT NO ONE COULD EVER PRODUCE A BODY TO PUT OUT THE FIRE OF CHRISTIANITY -- WHEN WE CONSIDER THAT MEN AND WOMEN BY THOUSANDS DIED FOR THE FAITH -- THERE CAN BE NO CONCLUSION BUT THAT JESUS ROSE FROM THE DEAD.... MOHAMMED AND BUDDHA ARE IN THE GRAVE - BUT JESUS IS ALIVE!! WHAT HE SAYS IS TRUE!!
THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS IS POWERFUL IT HAS THE POWER TO TRANSFORM ONES LIFE FROM UNBELIEF TO BELIEF...
IT TRANSFORMED THE DISCIPLES, THOMAS, FRANK MORRISON, IT HAS TRANSFORMED MINE AND MILLIONS OF OTHERS -- HAS IT TRANSFORMED YOURS...
II.THE RESURRECTION ALSO TRANSFORMS US FROM DEATH TO LIFE
ALL MEN ARE SINNERS -- THERE HAS BEEN NONE RIGHTEOUS NOT EVEN ONE -- ALL MEN HAVE FALLEN SHORT -- AND THE PENALTY FOR OUR SIN IS DEATH.... ETERNAL DEATH -- SEPARATION FROM GOD FOREVER....
MAN COULD NOT SAVE HIMSELF -- THE LAW COULD NOT SAVE HIM - MAN COULD NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH TO MERIT HEAVEN’S GLORY....
THEREFORE JESUS, THE SON OF GOD CAME TO EARTH PUT ON HUMAN FLESH -- SPOKE WORDS OF LIFE... TELLING OF THE WAY TO THE FATHER -- THAT WAS AND IS ONLY THROUGH HIM...
THROUGH HIS DEATH JESUS PAID FOR OUR SINS (HE PAID A DEBT WE COULD NOT PAY), AND BY HIS RESURRECTION HE BROKE THE POWER OF DEATH AND MADE POSSIBLE THE WAY TO LIFE....
PETER BOLDLY DECLARED IN ACTS CHAPTER 2, "AND GOD RAISED HIM UP AGAIN, PUTTING AN END TO THE AGONY OF DEATH..."
MANKIND HAD THE HEAVY BURDEN OF SIN AROUND HIS NECK.... AND ALL HE HAD TO LOOK FORWARD TO WAS THE AGONY OF ETERNAL DEATH... BUT THANKS BE TO THAT THROUGH JESUS CHRIST’S DEATH BURIAL AND RESURRECTION THAT BURDEN HAS BEEN LIFTED THE DEBT HAS BEEN PAID AND WE CAN BE SET FREE BY GOD’S GRACE.... THE SON PAID IT ALL -- AND ALL WE NEED TO DO IS ACCEPT HIM
DO YOU WANT TO BE SET FREE? WELL YOU CAN BE SET FREE... JESUS CAN SET FREE ANYONE.....
I CORINTH 6:9-11
WELL, HOW DOES A MAN PASS FROM DEATH INTO LIFE -- BY DOING GOD’S WAY, BY TAKING PART IN THE DEATH BURIAL AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST... THOUGH WE CAN NOT OURSELVES PHYSICALLY HANG ON THAT CROSS OF WOOD -- NOR CAN WE BE BURIED IN THAT BORROWED TOMB -- NOR BURST FORTH FROM IT 3 DAYS -- WE CAN DO THESE THINGS SPIRITUALLY. PAUL DESCRIBES THIS IN DETAIL IN ROMANS 6:1-11
AND THE LIFE WE ARE TO LIVE IS A NEW LIFE
A LIFE WHERE WE ARE FREE TO LIVE, WE HAVE NOTHING TO PROVE TO ANYONE, BECAUSE WE ARE ACCEPTED BY THE ONE WHO MATTERS MOST.. HE LOVES US, WE ARE HIS CHILDREN, HE IS ALWAYS WITH US, HE HEARS US WHEN WE CRY, HE IS PREPARING FOR US AP PLACE IN HEAVEN AND HE IS COMING BACK FOR US -- IT IS A NEW LIFE BECAUSE WE HAVE ALREADY WON THE GRAND PRIZE OF LIFE... ETERNAL LIFE IN JESUS CHRIST.
III.THE RESURRECTION CAN ALSO CHANGE US FROM FEAR TO COURAGE
THEY ALL HAD RAN EXCEPT FOR JOHN, WHEN JESUS WAS ARRESTED TRIED AND CRUCIFIED. THEY WERE AFRAID AND THEY HAD SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE STREETS OF JERUSALEM.
AND NOW THEY WERE TOGETHER IN ONE ROOM. THE WERE AFRAID OF THE JEWS -- AFRAID OF WHAT THEY MAY DO TO THEM -- AFRAID THAT MAYBE A SCOURGE AND A CROSS AWAITED THEM.
THE WAS LOCKED THE DOOR, AND PERHAPS THERE EVEN WAS A CHAIR PROPPED UP AGAINST THE DOOR. THE WINDOWS WERE PROBABLY COVERED. OCCASIONALLY SOMEONE WOULD LOOK OUT THE PEEPHOLE. I DON’T IMAGINE THERE WAS MUCH TALKING TAKING PLACE. JUST A LOT OF DESPAIRING LOOKS, SHAME AND GUILT FEELINGS AS THEY STARED DOWN AT THE FLOOR... THE SILENCE OCCASIONALLY BEING INTERRUPTED BY THE SOUND OF KNOCKING KNEES AND SHUFFLING FEET.
THEY WERE CERTAINLY NOT THE MOST IMPRESSIVE GROUP OF PEOPLE EVER TO BE ASSEMBLED. THEY WERE MEN WHO HAD BROKEN UNDER SEVERE PRESSURE, MEN WHO HAD LET DOWN EACH OTHER AND MEN, WHO HAD LET DOWN THEIR TEACHER, THEIR LORD AND THEIR FRIEND... NOW AS WE LOOK BACK AT THIS MOTLEY CREW -- NOT MANY OF US WOULD WAGER TOO MANY PAY CHECKS ON THEM OR THEIR FUTURE.. BUT THEN WE READ IN;
JOHN 20:19,20
THEIR FUTURE WHICH ONLY MOMENTS AGO LOOKED DIM AND HOPELESS WAS NOW BRIGHT AND FULL OF HOPE. YOU SEE, SOMETHING HAPPENS TO A MAN WHEN HE SEE SOMEONE WHO HAS RISEN FORM THE DEAD. YES, SOMETHING POWERFUL HAPPENS TO ONE WHO HAS SEEN THE RISEN LORD. SOMETHING STIRS WITHIN HIM THAT IS HOTTER THAN GOLD FEVER AND MORE PERMANENT THEN PASSION.
AT ONCE A FIRE BURNED WITH IN THEM -- A FIRE WHICH THEY COULD NOT CONTAIN... AND THAT FIRE QUENCHED THEIR FEARS AS THEY UNLOCKED THE DOOR, REMOVED THE CHAIR AND WENT OUT INTO THE ROADS OF LIFE. YOU SEE, THEY NO LONGER FEARED THE JEWISH LEADERS, THE ROMANS, THE THREATS, THE PERSECUTIONS, THE SWORDS -- THEY NO LONGER FEAR THOSE WHO COULD ONLY HURT THE BODY... THEY NO LONGER FEARED DEATH AND 10 OF THEM WOULD DIE A MARTYRS DEATH. AS THEY COURAGEOUSLY TOOK THE GOSPEL THROUGHOUT THE WORLD....
THE CHRISTIAN HAS PASSED FROM DEATH TO LIFE AND NO LONGER NEEDS TO FEAR DEATH. PAUL CONCLUDES I COR 15 (RES CHAPTER) WITH THESE WORDS
I COR 15:54B-58
THE RESURRECTION CAN TRANSFORM US FROM:
UNBELIEF TO BELIEF -- FROM DEATH TO LIFE -- FROM FEAR TO COURAGE
IV.AND FINALLY THE RESURRECTION TRANSFORMS OUR DESPAIR INTO HOPE....
IT MAY HAVE BEEN SUNDAY ON THE CALENDAR BUT IT WAS STILL FRIDAY IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE 2 DISCIPLES AS THEY TRAVELED ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS -- LUKE TELLS US THEIR STORY IN HIS 24TH CHAPTER.
THESE 2 FOLLOWERS OF JESUS HAS LEFT JERUSALEM -- THEY WERE DISCOURAGED - DOWNCAST -- THEY WERE NOT SURE WHAT TO BELIEVE ANYMORE... NOTHING MADE SENSE... JESUS WAS DEAD.
THEY HAD HOPED THAT JESUS WAS THE ONE WHO WOULD REDEEM ISRAEL AND MAKE THINGS RIGHT.. BUT NOW JESUS IS DEAD AND AT HIS DEATH THEIR HOPES WERE SHATTERED TO PIECES.
AS THEY WALK AWAY FROM JERUSALEM, I PICTURE THIS AS BEING SYMBOLIC OF THEM WALKING AWAY FORM THEIR HOPES AND THEIR DREAMS. THEY HAD GIVEN UP ON LIFE AND WITH EACH STEP THEY TOOK THOSE HOPES AND DREAMS FADED FURTHER AND FURTHER AWAY... NOW YOU CAN GO HOME AND READ THE DETAILS YOURSELF -- BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THESE 2 MEN MEET THE RISEN LORD ON THAT ROAD AN THEIR STORY ENDS WITH THEM RUNNING BACK TO THE CITY -- THEIR HOPES AND DREAMS RENEWED..
THE RESURRECTION STILL GIVES US HOPE TODAY.. AND AS PETER SAYS IN HIS LETTER OUR HOPE IS A "LIVING" HOPE.
AND WE SO DESPERATELY NEED THAT HOPE... BECAUSE MANY TIMES IN OUR LIFE THE FOG SETS IN AND THE DARK CLOUDS DESCEND, THE STORMS HOWL AND TROUBLES BLOW... HEALTH PROBLEMS, MARITAL PROBLEMS, FAMILY PROBLEMS, FINANCIAL PROBLEMS -- WE BATTLE LONELINESS, DEPRESSION, DESPAIR AND PERSECUTION...
AND IF WE LOOK JUST AT THOSE DARK CLOUDS -- IT IS EASY TO FEEL DEFEATED, TO LOSE HOPE, TO BE AFRAID, TO START OUR OWN WALK AWAY FROM OUR CITY OF HOPES AND DREAMS -- EVERY STEP TAKEN US FURTHER AWAY...
BUT IF YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN -- WHEN THOSE DARK CLOUDS OF THIS LIFE COME -- REMEMBER THIS -- THE SUN IS STILL THERE -- AND IT WILL SHINE ONCE AGAIN.... AFTER THE RAIN COMES THE RAINBOW...
REMEMBER THAT IT IS ONLY FRIDAY
AND ON SUNDAY BROTHERS AND SISTERS WE ARE GOING HOME....
THE SON IS COMING AGAIN
HE IS ON HIS WAY
WHEN LIFE SEEMS TO BE JUST ONE BIG DARK FRIDAY
NEVER FORGET THAT SUNDAY IS COMING
AND ON SUNDAY WE ARE GOING HOME....
AND WE WILL GET TO BE WITH HIM....
