John 19:30, "So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, 'It is finished!' And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit."
While the date changes every year, the meaning of the day does not. Friday, April 22, 2011. Good Friday. The day when you and I received the opportunity to have our sins forgiven and regain our fellowship with God. Over 6 hours, one Friday, nearly 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ became the sacrifice "once and for all," so that through the shedding of His blood, atonement was made for all who believe in and follow Him. Amen! Hallelujah!
The meaning of the day is incomprehensible to most. God the Father chose to send God the Son to earth in human form to die so that we could be forgiven and have eternal life with Him. God the Son freely chose to obey God the Father even "unto death." The requirement of God for the "shedding of blood" for "remission of sin" is met at Calvary.
The innocent sacrificed for the guilty. The sinless for the sinner. "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." The bible tells us that there is "no greater love than one who is willing to die for his friend." But while we were sinners, we were no friend to God. Romans 8:7 tells us that due to our "carnal" minds, our sin nature, we were indeed God's enemy. Yet Christ, still chose, the cross for us.
Set up and betrayed by one who He called a disciple, Judas. Denied by the disciples leader 3 times, Peter. Falsely charged, and convicted by lies, by the religious leader, Caiaphas. Presented to the people with a murderer to be freed, yet the crowd chose the murderer, Barabbas. A man in whom the civil governor could find no wrong, yet still sent to the cross, Pilate. Beaten by guards with a "cat o' nine tales," a whip with bone shards attached to the sinews. Crowned with thorns. Forced to carry His own death instrument, a cross. Stripped naked. Nailed, pierced, through His hands and His feet. Abandoned by the eleven closest to Him, the disciples. Forsaken by God the Father for our sin placed upon Him. Yet all of this is called good.
Good? You better believe it! Good for you and for me! Good! For just as God said through His prophets, Messiah had come! Good! For "unto us a child" was given. The Son, the only begotten of God! Good! For everything that needed to be done for us to be saved had been accomplished on the cross. God's plan for the restoration of mankind by our faith, through His grace, was completed. "It," was finished.
So all of mankind now stands at the foot of the cross. And how you view Jesus is your witness as to whether this is a good day or not. If you know Christ as Savior, and follow Him as Lord, it is indeed a "Good Friday." Your sins are gone, as far as the "east from the west." In God's eyes they "exist no more." Washed away by the blood of the Lamb, who came, "to take away the sins of the world."
But, if you do not know Jesus as your Savior, nor follow Him as Lord, this day is not a good day. You see, on Sunday, believers in Christ will celebrate the resurrection of Christ from the dead. For you see, He is not dead, but alive! Seated at the right hand of the Father, set to return one day. But not as a Lamb, but rather, a Lion. He will come as Judge, Holy and True. And He will have just one question for you: What did you do with Me? He gave His all for us. Will you do the same for Him, and be saved today?
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Preaching to the Religious Crowd
In Acts chapters 6 and 7 we see the set-up and presentation of one of the great sermons in the bible. Stephen, whom the Holy Spirit describes as a man "full of faith and power(Acts 6:8)," is confronted in Acts 6 by a group of religious folk called the Synagogue of the Freedmen(Acts 6:9). These religious folk accused Stephen of blasphemy against God and stirred up opposition behind closed doors(Acts 6:11-12), brought false witnesses with lies against him(Acts 6:13), so that he could be brought before the Jewish high council. How would Stephen respond to this persecution? The Old Testament penalty for blasphemy was death. This was the charge brought against Jesus at His trial before this same high council, who also produced false witnesses bearing lies against Him before He was crucified. His life is on the line and Stephen knows it. What will he say?
Beginning in Acts 7:2 and extending through Acts 7:53 Stephen gives his response. In this sermon to the religious crowd Stephen clearly preaches of the fulfilled promises of God, and how His people had turned from Him. He points them to Jesus from the Old Testament scriptures. Point by point Stephen recounts the Jews history of blessing when they followed God and of their rebellion against God, closing with these words in Acts 7:51-53: "You stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it."
Acts 7:54 tells us that this religious crowd was "cut to the heart." But true to form they resisted the Holy Spirit, and welled up with prideful anger. A message that should have brought conviction and Godly repentance, instead led them to once again accuse the messenger, instead of heeding the message. In Acts 7:58-60 Stephen is cast out of town and stoned to death. Why? He told them the truth. A truth they were unwilling to hear and accept.
A wise old preacher once said, "If you are going to preach repentance, you had better be prepared to pledge your head to heaven." Today, in our churches, we need men of God who are willing to stand tall in the face of the religious crowd, with their head pledged to heaven. We need to heed the example of Stephen, and if necessary, suffer the consequences of proclaiming the truth. We must perform our "reasonable service" and be the "living sacrifice" He has said we should be. Are we willing to do so?
In this age of man-centered Christianity, what is desperately needed in our pulpits is courage and the expression of God's love in the face of a lost world on the outside and a religious crowd on the inside. Whether they will accept the message or not, they need to hear the truth. The prophet's message has never been popular. The Old Testament prophets were rarely heard, and often killed. Jesus was rejected by His own and nailed to the cross. The apostles with the exception of John all were brutally put to death, for the same reason as Stephen. They refused to change the message. They preached the truth.
This message initially will not lead one to have a mega-church. The religious crowd will reject it, and the messenger will be persecuted, just as they did with Stephen. This message will "prune the vine." But this is the only message that will truly grow the kingdom of God. In this age of church growth strategies and methods to woo the world, of tolerance of sin and worldly ways, what we really need is old fashioned, gospel preaching. Preaching the truth that lifestyles of sin are not the mark of a Christian, but a lost heathen. That repentance is the badge of true salvation. That holiness on our part is the expectation of God. That agape, Godly, love, not what the world calls love, is the thing that proclaims to the world we are of Jesus.
We cannot just tell people they need Jesus, we must show them why. That the "wages of sin is death," and forgiveness and remission of sin is received when we repent of that sin(Acts 2:38,3:19, 8:22, 26:20). We must reveal the truth that Christ and His ways are the only way to the Father(John 14:6), and take the message of repentance as commanded by Jesus to the whole world(Luke 24:46-47). We must be willing to lay our head on the chopping block, knowing our treasure is in heaven, not here on earth.
Stephen knew this. In Acts 7:56 we see a remarkable thing occur. Scripture tells us that right now Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. But in Acts 7:56, just as Stephen has completed this magnificent sermon, and right before the crowd will take him and kill him, we see our Lord STANDING in heaven, in appreciation of His servant. We all must conclude in our own hearts, what do we desire more? Glory and honor here on earth? The love of man? Or do we desire glory and honor in His kingdom. The message we proclaim will determine this.
Stephen didn't win a single convert on earth at the time of this message, but He won the appreciation of Jesus. And he planted a seed. Acts 7:58 tells us the crowd did not honor Stephen, or God. They honored a young Pharisee named Saul. Saul would later be convicted of his sin and repent. Jesus would change his name. We know him as Paul, the one who would give his head from jail in Rome for proclaiming this same, absolute truth. Paul was initially jailed by the religious crowd in Jerusalem. Preacher! Are you willing to pledge your head?
Beginning in Acts 7:2 and extending through Acts 7:53 Stephen gives his response. In this sermon to the religious crowd Stephen clearly preaches of the fulfilled promises of God, and how His people had turned from Him. He points them to Jesus from the Old Testament scriptures. Point by point Stephen recounts the Jews history of blessing when they followed God and of their rebellion against God, closing with these words in Acts 7:51-53: "You stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it."
Acts 7:54 tells us that this religious crowd was "cut to the heart." But true to form they resisted the Holy Spirit, and welled up with prideful anger. A message that should have brought conviction and Godly repentance, instead led them to once again accuse the messenger, instead of heeding the message. In Acts 7:58-60 Stephen is cast out of town and stoned to death. Why? He told them the truth. A truth they were unwilling to hear and accept.
A wise old preacher once said, "If you are going to preach repentance, you had better be prepared to pledge your head to heaven." Today, in our churches, we need men of God who are willing to stand tall in the face of the religious crowd, with their head pledged to heaven. We need to heed the example of Stephen, and if necessary, suffer the consequences of proclaiming the truth. We must perform our "reasonable service" and be the "living sacrifice" He has said we should be. Are we willing to do so?
In this age of man-centered Christianity, what is desperately needed in our pulpits is courage and the expression of God's love in the face of a lost world on the outside and a religious crowd on the inside. Whether they will accept the message or not, they need to hear the truth. The prophet's message has never been popular. The Old Testament prophets were rarely heard, and often killed. Jesus was rejected by His own and nailed to the cross. The apostles with the exception of John all were brutally put to death, for the same reason as Stephen. They refused to change the message. They preached the truth.
This message initially will not lead one to have a mega-church. The religious crowd will reject it, and the messenger will be persecuted, just as they did with Stephen. This message will "prune the vine." But this is the only message that will truly grow the kingdom of God. In this age of church growth strategies and methods to woo the world, of tolerance of sin and worldly ways, what we really need is old fashioned, gospel preaching. Preaching the truth that lifestyles of sin are not the mark of a Christian, but a lost heathen. That repentance is the badge of true salvation. That holiness on our part is the expectation of God. That agape, Godly, love, not what the world calls love, is the thing that proclaims to the world we are of Jesus.
We cannot just tell people they need Jesus, we must show them why. That the "wages of sin is death," and forgiveness and remission of sin is received when we repent of that sin(Acts 2:38,3:19, 8:22, 26:20). We must reveal the truth that Christ and His ways are the only way to the Father(John 14:6), and take the message of repentance as commanded by Jesus to the whole world(Luke 24:46-47). We must be willing to lay our head on the chopping block, knowing our treasure is in heaven, not here on earth.
Stephen knew this. In Acts 7:56 we see a remarkable thing occur. Scripture tells us that right now Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. But in Acts 7:56, just as Stephen has completed this magnificent sermon, and right before the crowd will take him and kill him, we see our Lord STANDING in heaven, in appreciation of His servant. We all must conclude in our own hearts, what do we desire more? Glory and honor here on earth? The love of man? Or do we desire glory and honor in His kingdom. The message we proclaim will determine this.
Stephen didn't win a single convert on earth at the time of this message, but He won the appreciation of Jesus. And he planted a seed. Acts 7:58 tells us the crowd did not honor Stephen, or God. They honored a young Pharisee named Saul. Saul would later be convicted of his sin and repent. Jesus would change his name. We know him as Paul, the one who would give his head from jail in Rome for proclaiming this same, absolute truth. Paul was initially jailed by the religious crowd in Jerusalem. Preacher! Are you willing to pledge your head?
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