Weekend Sermon -- Easter

 Christ Is Risen!

He Is Risen Indeed!

     Thank you for taking the time to read the message for Easter. I hope that you are all well.

     Today we celebrate the glorious resurrection of Jesus. Jesus was crucified and died for our sins on Good Friday. He was in the grave for three days, and on Easter Sunday morning, He rose bodily from the grave defeating death, hell and the grave once and for all. 

     For our Easter message today, I want us to focus on the fact that since Jesus has been raised from the dead, those of us who are in Christ will one day rise and receive a glorified body like unto the risen body of the Lord Jesus. 

     Those who pass away before the coming of the Lord go to be with Him in the place that He has prepared for us in Heaven. We know this because the Bible tells us to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. 

     The Bible also makes it clear that one day, we will receive a glorified body like the glorified body of the Lord Jesus when He rose from the grave. We read this is Philippians 3:21 that states, "Who shall change our vile body, that it might be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself."

     Because Jesus is risen, all believers will receive a glorified body that is free from the hardship and decay that is part of our current body. Paul tells us a lot about this in I Corinthians 15. Beginning at verse 50, Paul tells us that when Jesus returns in His Second Advent, those who are already with Him and those who are left on the earth will instantaneously receive a glorified body. Our new bodies, according to Paul, will never perish. They will never wear out. We will have a powerful body that is fashioned for us by the Lord so that we can live with Him forever when He comes to rule and reign upon the earth. 

     We know that since we will have a glorified body like the risen Lord that certain things are true. Those who knew Jesus recognized Him. So, we know that we will be able to recognize one another in the glorified state. Jesus' body was substantial. He was able to be touched by Mary and by Thomas. Ours will be as well. Jesus was able to go through material substances. We see this in John 20:19. His body was the same yet different. Ours will be that way as well because we will be transformed by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

     Jesus died on the cross and bore our sins so that our sins could be forgiven. Sin was dealt with on the cross, and the consequences of sin were dealt with at the resurrection. Death has been defeated. 

     Lets consider what all of this really means. Those who have put their faith and trust in the crucified and risen Lord do not need to fear death. When we die, we go immediately to be with Jesus. Those of us in Christ plagued by bodies that have caused us pain will one day receive a body of health and vitality freed from pain and illness. We never have to worry about anything harming us, and we need not worry about passing away. 

     Because Jesus Christ is risen, we shall rise. We will be reunited forever and forever with those whom we have loved on this earth. All creation shall be restored. 

     None of this is possible because of anything that anyone of us has done. It is only possible because of what the second Adam the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. Through Adam, sin and death came. Through Jesus, we have redemption and eternal life. 

     You can have eternal life through Jesus. He has made it available to everyone everywhere. He calls on you to turn from sin and ask Him for forgiveness. Trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord believing in your heart that He has been raised from the dead, and you will be redeemed. I urge you to find new life in Jesus Christ today. Amen.

Prayer Requests

     I wanted to let you know that things are going better at work. I thank you for your prayers in this regard. 

     Let us all pray that many will come to know Jesus during this Easter season. Let us pray for those in Bangladesh and Turkmenistan for our prayer focus countries this week. 

     Keep praying for peace in the world. Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Libya, Haiti, Sudan, Syria and Yemen all need our prayers right now. 

     Pray concerning the bridge collapse in Baltimore. Pray that God will comfort those who lost loved ones. Pray that shipping can be restored soon. 

     Next week, we will get back to our series on the names of God. I will post the verses on Monday. I will post the final installment of the Minor Prophets book midweek. May God bless you all. 

Good Friday

     This is the day that Jesus went to the cross. He was tried, accused and nailed to the tree. While Jesus was on the cross, those who were His enemies mocked and scorned Him. Even as they did this, Jesus asked the Father to forgive them. 

     Jesus died on the cross in order that we might be forgiven of our sins. The Bible says that all have sinned and none are righteous. We are like sheep that have gone astray. 

     Jesus came to redeem us. He is the Good Shepherd that went after the lost sheep. He lived a holy and sinless life so that He could be the spotless Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. 

     While on the cross, Jesus bore our sins. I Peter 2:24 says, "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed."

     Jesus paid the penalty for our sins. He did for us what we could not do. Because of what Jesus did on the cross and through His resurrection, salvation and forgiveness of sins is available to all. Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

Maundy Thursday

      Today is Maundy Thursday on the Christian calendar. On this day, Jesus brought His disciples into the Upper Room in order to give them His final teachings before He went to Calvary. 

     At this time, Jesus washed His disciples feet. This was an act that servants normally performed. However, Jesus did it for His disciples. The reason that He did this was to demonstrate that as His followers, we are to serve one another. No one is to consider themselves better or superior to the other. Jesus said in John 13:15-17, "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them."

     Part of following Jesus means to serve others as He served others. We do this by helping others and by loving this world as Jesus did. We are to help other believers and the larger world in the best way that we can to help people have better lives and to experience the love of Jesus in their hearts. 

     On Maundy Thursday, Jesus gave a new commandment. John 13:34-35 reads, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this will everyone know that you are My disciples, if you love one another."

     Love is what the Christian religion is all about. We are to love God with all that is within us. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are to love this world. All that we do should be with the motive of love. 

     When we demonstrate love for one another as believers in Jesus, the world will know that we follow Jesus because Jesus was love incarnate. We will draw people to Jesus when they see His love in us flowing out to others. 

Exploring The Minor Prophets -- Vol. 2. -- Part 5

 

Zechariah

     I'm going to state at the beginning of this chapter that I think that the book of Zechariah is a difficult book to understand. For instance, in chapter one, the prophet has a vision of a rider on a horse with different colored horses behind him. The prophet asks who these are. He is told that they are the ones sent out by God to patrol the earth. The question remains as to why God needs horses to patrol the earth. In chapter six there are more horses patrolling the earth. There are a lot of unusual and mystical things like this in the book of Zechariah.

     With that said, we do know something about the prophet himself. He ministered around 520 BC. He gave his message during the time when the Persians had allowed the people of Israel to return to the land following their captivity by the Babylonians. In addition to being a prophet, Zechariah was also a priest. 

     There are three things that I want us to learn from this book. The first of these we find in Zechariah 7:8-10 that reads, "So once again, I the Lord All-Powerful tell you to see that justice is done and be kind and merciful to one another. Don't mistreat widows, or orphans, or foreigners, or anyone who is poor, and stop making plans to hurt each other."

     This is what God expects from His people. This is what God expects from those who are leaders. Justice is not to be perverted. The justice system is to be fair for rich and for poor alike. Fairness is to be a part of all business dealings and interpersonal relationships. No one in a position of power should use that power to take advantage of another person. We are to be kind and merciful. This reminds me of Paul saying to be kind and tenderhearted to one another. 

     God looks in an unfavorable fashion on those people or nations who mistreat those who are vulnerable within society. Jesus called them the least of those among us. God cares about the poor, and He expects them to be taken care of. We need to lift one another up and help one another. 

     The second thing that I want to point out is that Zechariah contains a Messianic prophecy about the ministry of the Lord Jesus. In chapter nine verse 10, we read that the Messiah was to come into Jerusalem in the humble manner of riding on a donkey. At that time, the people would shout and rejoice.  

     This prophecy from Zechariah was completely fulfilled at the time of Jesus' Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday. The disciples of Jesus brought Him a donkey. Jesus rode into the city on the donkey. The people laid palm leaves in His path and shouted Hosanna.

     Fulfilled prophecies such as this one are proof that the Bible is reliable. We can know that since the prophecies of Jesus' first Advent were fulfilled, we can count on the fact that the ones concerning His Second Advent will be completely fulfilled as well. 

     This leads us to our third point from Zechariah. The prophet tells us something of the coming reign of the Messiah Jesus upon this earth. 

     In chapters 11-14, Zechariah lets us know that Jesus will one day defeat all of the evil that is in the world. He will return and stand on the Mount of Olives. In 14:9, Zechariah tells us Jesus will reign and be worshipped throughout the earth. 

     Paul tells us about this in Philippians 2. When Jesus returns, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. 

     There are many prophecies in the Bible telling about the return of the Lord Jesus. He told us that one day He would return to judge the world. 

     We don't know when Jesus will return. Jesus said that no one knows the day nor the hour. However, Jesus told us to be prepared should He come at any moment. While we wait for the Lord Jesus, let us obey that Lord and do as much good in the world as we possible can. Let us spread His message to all. 

Verses For The Week

 Psalm 150:6 -- "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord."

I John 2:2 -- "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."

Weekend Sermon -- Palm Sunday

      Thank you for reading the sermon again this week. I am thankful for the opportunity to post the message each week. We have been in a series of messages dealing with the names and titles of God found primarily in the Old Testament. This week and next, we are taking a pause from that series so that I can post messages dealing with the events of Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. 

     Palm Sunday was my favorite date on the Christian calendar when I was a boy. The reason that I enjoyed it so much back then is that we always had a parade with palm branches during Sunday school. My parents and I also often went to a church in the large city to my northeast where they had an Easter play that included Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. They had a real donkey bring the actor playing Jesus ride from the back of the auditorium to the stage. As a young boy, I thought that it was fun having a donkey in the church. 

     When we consider Palm Sunday, we most often remember that the people took the palm leaves and laid them in Jesus path as He rode into Jerusalem. We remember the shouts of Hosanna. During Palm Sunday, it is important for us to remember that Jesus is worthy of praise because He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The religious leaders tried to get Jesus to stop the people's praise. Jesus told them that if the people stopped praising Him, the rocks would cry out in praise. 

     It is important to remember to bring praise and honor to the Lord Jesus for who He is and for what He has done. There is another part to the events that occurred on Palm Sunday that sometimes we don't think about. 

     After Jesus rode into Jerusalem, He went to the area of the Temple. What He saw there caused Him to become angry. He saw the moneychangers in the Temple and those who were buying and selling. Jesus drove out the sellers and overturned the tables of the moneylenders. He overturned the tables of those who were selling doves. Jesus said, "My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers."

     I believe that Jesus became angry and drove these people out because the money changers were cheating the people who were coming to the Temple to worship. I also believe that He was just disgusted with the entire spectacle of buying and selling and irreverence that He was witnessing. 

    I also believe that what we read in Matthew also lets us know why Jesus cleansed the Temple. After He drove out the moneychangers, the Gospel says that the lame and the blind came to Him and He healed them. Those who were sick were often excluded by the religious leaders of the day. They were looked down on as those who were rejected by God. Jesus wanted them and the religious leaders to know that everyone was important to God and God loved everyone. 

     What can we learn from this incident of Jesus cleansing the Temple? First of all, I believe that there is too much focus on money and material things going on in a lot of churches right now, especially in my country.  You can't turn on Christian TV or radio without hearing most going into long sessions of wanting to get money. I understand that money is necessary to operate, but it has all become excessive. Also, so many are preaching in the name of Jesus and then amassing large fortunes. This is a big turn off to those who are not Christians. Even they know that this isn't what Jesus did, and this isn't something that Jesus would approve of. 

     I believe that we can also learn that our focus in church needs to be on worship, praise and prayer. Jesus wants His church to be a place where we commune with Him. We seek His guidance and we cast our cares upon Him because He cares for us. We need to maintain worshipful reverence in the house of the Lord. 

     Finally, the Lord's house is to be for all people. No one is excluded from the love, grace and mercy of the Lord. Jesus made it clear that whoever would come to Him, He would not cast them aside. He said that all who are weary and heavy laden should come to Him. Jesus made it quite clear that He loved and cared about everyone and whoever called upon the name of the Lord would be saved. 

     As you celebrate Palm Sunday, give praise to Jesus for all that He has done. And remember that one day, He is coming again to rule and reign. His kingdom will have no end. Amen. 

Prayer Requests

     I am doing some better with my health. Please pray that I will keep improving. Also, the weather service is predicting some strong winds for my area in the next few days. Please pray that it will not be bad and cause problems. Thank you. 

     Please continue to pray for peace in the world. Pray for peace in Israel, Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, Ukraine, Yemen, Syria and other war-torn places in this world. 

     For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for those in the nations of Singapore and Vietnam. Pray that many will come to know Jesus. 

     Next week, the blog will have a busy schedule. I will post the verses on Monday. I will post the next section of the Minor Prophets book midweek. We will have posts on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. I will post the Easter message on Saturday. May God bless you all. Amen. 

Exploring the Minor Prophets -- Vol. 2 -- Part 4

 

Haggai

     Haggai is one of the smaller books in the Bible. It contains only two chapters. Nevertheless, there is much for us to learn from this small book. 

     Haggai is a prophet whose ministry occurred during the time when the people of Israel had returned to their land after spending 70 years in captivity. When the people returned to the land, they initially rebuilt the walls of the city of Jerusalem under the leadership of Nehemiah. 

     The next order of business was to rebuild the Temple which had been destroyed by the Chaldeans. During this time, a man named Zerubbabel was the governor of the area. 

     While the people were in captivity, they got idolatry out of their systems so to speak. However, they still had need of spiritual improvement. Nehemiah had to get the people to care about each other and to take care of one another. Nehemiah and Ezra the priest taught and exhorted the people so that they stayed on the right track spiritually. 

     One thing that the returning exiles failed to do was to get about the business of rebuilding the house of the Lord. As we read in Haggai's message, they were rebuilding their own houses, yet they had neglected the rebuilding of the Temple for worship. God was not pleased about being left out in the people's efforts and desires. He commissioned Haggai to tell the people to get to rebuilding the Temple. 

     In our lives, I believe that we fail to put God and the things of God first in our lives. We get all caught up in the affairs of our day to day lives, and we forget about what the Lord wants us to do for Him in this world. 

     I find that there are many who claim to be Christians who don't have their faith as the most prominent aspect of their lives. It is something that is just one more thing to them. Going to church is more or less a type of social activity. If something else comes up, the things of God are put on the back burner. 

     Another way to put it is that many don't have Jesus as Lord. He is not the all and all of life. He is not at the core. He is not what everything else centers around.

     To my understanding, being a follower of Jesus means putting Him first and foremost.  Following Jesus means asking what would Jesus do in each situation of life. It means following the will and the way of the Lord for our lives. 

     Haggai told the people that they needed to get their priorities in order. The Temple needed to get built. 

    Haggai went on to tell the people something very important. In Haggai 1:13, the Lord tells the people that He is with them. When they decided to go and start to rebuild the house of the Lord, God would be with them and help them to be successful in the work. He would guide them and lead them in the way that they needed to go. 

     That's just how it works in our walk with the Lord today. When we step out to do what God wants and when we put Him first in our lives, the Lord Jesus will be with us and go with us. He will never leave us, and He will never forsake us. With can know His peaceful presence within our hearts. 

     Whatever God tells you to do, He will help you to accomplish it.. You aren't out there alone. He gives the strength and the wisdom to do His work in the world. 

     There is one final thing that I would like to point out from the book of Haggai. Haggai the prophet was an encourager. He provided a message of hope to the people and to their leaders.

      All of us at some time in our lives need some encouragement. And, we need to encourage others. I know several people that could have done more than what they have done in life if they had had more encouragement when they were younger. 

     Give a word of hope and encouragement to others when you have the chance. I know that it will make a great deal of difference in someone's life.