Intro:

Good afternoon, this is a Lenten lunch and many of you may be expecting a service that is specifically related to Holy Week. I want to forewarn you that this message is not one that specifically relates to this week. However, I do believe that this message will relate to the resurrection as every message should. We are called to be people living in the light of the resurrection all year long and this sermon relates to the idea of living as Spirit-Filled Christians all year long. Now, my style of preaching is generally teaching and generally teaching the Bible as you will see. Now, since I have given you that disclaimer, allow me to get to the message we are here for.

We have all eaten, haven’t we? I see that we have had some soup and some delicious cookies and we have coffee and maybe you are still eating. Food is such a gift from God, isn’t it? I mean, it even taste good. I think that we can eat and we enjoy what we eat is evidence of a loving God and even evidence of a God. I mean, God could have created us to need to eat but to hate the process of eating. But that is not true. I love the process of eating, I look forward to eating. I started exercising so that I can enjoy what I eat all the more. I mean, I don’t like to exercise but it is worth it when I eat. How do we know when we are finished eating? Well, one way is that we are full or filled up, right? I’ve said it before and maybe you have as well, “I am stuffed.” Some have said, “I can’t eat another bite.”

I have titled my message, Spirit-Filled Prayer, because in the passage which I will read I see the disciples prayer as Holy Spirit-Filled or at least Holy Spirit Filling. We must also seek the same in our churches and in our prayer life.

Allow me to read Acts 4:23-31:

1. First notice that their prayer begins with worship and an acknowledgement that God is sovereign.
2. Now, allow me to let you know what is going on in this passage: At the beginning of Acts chapter 3, Peter and John are going to the Temple at the time of prayer. A lame beggar was there and asked for money. Peter said, “Silver or gold I don’t have but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” The man is healed. This attracted a lot of attention and Peter preached a sermon. Peter’s message reached about 5000 people with the Gospel, but this aggravated the Jewish authorities and Peter and John were thrown in prison for the night. The next day Peter and John spoke before the Jewish leadership and Peter again preached the Gospel (4:8 says that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit). Eventually they had Peter and John released.
   1. Now, following their release from prison, they come back to meet with their own people.
   2. This term translated as “their own,” usually means family but in this case it means the other Christians.[1]But the point is they immediately went back to share with the other disciples what God had done.
      1. They didn’t go to take a shower first. They didn’t go to catch up on business, emails, Facebook or other things. They went straight back to join their people.
      2. They may have gone back to the upper room or a location where they knew the church would be at.
      3. They shared about the chief priests. The Chief Priests were a small group of priest within the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin would be the Jewish Supreme Court. The Sanhedrin would be composed of 70 people plus the High priest.[2] The chief Priests are composed of former high priest and members of influential priestly families.
      4. Notice in verse 24: When “they”, which I am thinking is the rest of the disciples” heard this meaning what God had done. They went straight to prayer.
         1. We must always apply the Scripture to our lives. Let’s apply this narrative for a moment. Do we do the same? They could have gone to rest, but no, they went to prayer. Their prayer includes allusions to Old Testament prayers.

Let’s look at this Spirit-Filled Prayer

1. They start their prayer acknowledging who God is in relation to who we are. We should do the same. God created everything that we see and feel. God created the stars in the sky.
   1. Verse 24 starts their prayer as “Sovereign Lord.” This means that God is in control. This means “absolute ruler.” Actually the Greek word translated here is where we get the English word “despot.”[3]God is the absolute ruler and they acknowledged that as they began their prayer.
      1.                                                                                                                            i.      Let me also insert here that they were praying in unity. The Scripture says that they “raised their voices together in prayer…” This doesn’t mean they all prayed at the same time, but that they were praying in unity.
      2.                                                                                                                          ii.      Too often I believe that our churches are hindered because of our divisions. Our prayers are hindered because of our divisions. Hence, I am going to say that our divisions hinder the Spirit’s work in our prayer life. In a few verses we will see that this group of Christians experienced the Holy Spirit. I think we are missing the Holy Spirit because of our division[4].
      3.                                                                                                                         iii.      Another statement about division, I strongly believe that the devil starts and fosters our division in order to take our focus off of evangelism. I strongly believe that reaching the lost will heal our division. We will realize that the things we are divided over are not as important as sharing the Gospel with those who don’t even know the Lord.
      4.                                                                                                                        iv.      One more comment about unity and divisions: I was part of a church plant several years ago. A church plant is a start up church. In this case a church sent out about 45 people to start a new church in a different location. Now, last week I had the opportunity to talk with someone who is starting a new church in Alliance. Some would say, “Why start new churches when there are so many existing churches?” I think that is a valid question. However, I also believe that so many existing churches are struggling because they can’t work in unity; they are caught up in divisions. Consequently, God’s way may be to start a new gathering of Christians, start a new church.
      5.                                                                                                                          v.      What we need to see here is that there prayer was in unity and God blessed them with a special baptism of the Holy Spirit.
   2. Now, allow me to get back to their prayer and their acknowledgement of God as sovereign. Do we acknowledge that God is sovereign, I mean really acknowledge this?
      1. Do you go about your day to day life thinking that God is in control? Or, are you in control?
      2. Acknowledging God as sovereign includes the idea that we must surrender to His will too.
   3. Next, part of the prayer: Do we begin our prayer with worship. That is what they are doing. This is not unlike Jesus saying, “Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed, or holy, is Your name.”
      1.                                                                                                                            i.      Notice they are saying the Lord’s Prayer. If you read the rest of this passage they never say, “Now, we pray as you taught us to pray…” No, of course not. They are still praying the order, the pattern, which Jesus taught them to pray.
   4. Then, their prayer includes Scripture. They quote Psalm 2:1-2 in reference to Jesus.
   5. Lastly about God’s sovereignty, their prayer acknowledged that God’s plan included threats against Christians. Verse 27 references the crucifixion of Christ. Verse 28 references that in God’s sovereignty this was planned beforehand.
      1. But they never complained and that is my transition to their one request.

Read verses 27-30

1. They prayed for boldness and an expansion of the Gospel
2. They never complained. We would expect that they would pray that their threats would stop, but they don’t they prayed that God considers their threats. They had just been thrown in prison and they prayed nothing about that.
3. They ask that God allows them to preach God’s Word with great boldness.
   1. Notice they say “preach.”
   2. In 2 Timothy 4:1 and following Paul’s dying words to Timothy are about preaching. Paul says that the time will come when people will want the preaching to be what their itching ears want to hear. Don’t you think that time has come? Our preaching is looked upon as entertainment and if a pastor preaches truly what God has called him to say they are called “too preachy.” If a pastor truly preaches the Scriptures they are considered too deep.
      1.                                                                                                                            i.      Today we need boldness in our pulpits. We need pastors who don’t shirk their responsibility under God because of a responsibility under man. We need pastors that quit filling their sermons with stories and a Scripture that is equal to a foot note. The disciple’s prayer in this passage is that they can Preach “God’s Word” with great boldness. Notice, they will preach God’s Word, not a few stories, poems and jokes.
         1. I think that this got started because at one time many of the churches were so far away from their people that they were too irrelevant. But now the church has swung too far to the opposite end. We are now unscriptural in our preaching.
         2. Peter and John were persecuted by unbelievers, today the Christians that do believe the Scriptures are persecuted from within the church for holding to the Scriptures.
         3. The pastors that preach God’s Word are persecuted from within the church.
         4.                                                                                                                          ii.       Now, I am a young preacher and you may walk away thinking, “that young preacher will learn.” But I want to tell you that I am standing on the shoulders of many other great older preachers when I say things such as what I just said. Among them Charles Swindoll. But most of all, I am referencing Scripture. Listen to what Rev. Dr. Swindoll writes referencing 2 Timothy 4:1-2:

Paul wrote with urgency, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (4:1-2). In other words, stick with the preaching plan God has promised to bless and use. Deliver the biblical goods! Be a man or woman of the Word!

Don’t attempt to be so creative and cute that folks miss the truth. No need for meaningless and silly substitutes that entertain but rarely convict the lost and edify the saved. Teach the truth. Will you notice something here? This exhortation is not addressed to the hearer, it’s for the speaker. The one who is to do this is the one proclaiming the message. Be ready to do it in season and out of season. Being ready implies being prepared both mentally and spiritually.

In essence, Paul says, “Don’t be lazy. Do your homework. Don’t stand up and start with an apology that you didn’t quite have adequate time to prepare. That doesn’t wash.” And do so faithfully—when it’s convenient and when it’s not.

Sadly, in an alarming number of churches today, God’s people are being told what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. They are being fed warm milk, not solid meat. A watered-down gospel may attract large crowds (for a while), but it has no eternal impact. I’ve not been able to find any place in the Scriptures where God expresses the least bit of concern for drawing numbers. Satisfying the curious itching ears of our postmodern audiences is an exercise in futility.

The task of ministry is to deliver Truth. Frankly, I intend to continue doing just that, by God’s grace, until the day He calls me home. And I think there is an ever-increasing number of believers who long for nourishing messages based on the Word of God, not human opinion.

The world urgently needs more Christians with the fervor and faith of Paul. Will you be one of them? Will you answer the charge? If so, there’s no better time than now to begin.

Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations . . . and I will be with you” (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV). There is no greater challenge and no more comforting promise. Believe it. Trust it. And by the grace of God, go do it!

1. We also need prayers that we can preach God’s Word with great boldness.
2. Verse 30 is a prayer for miracles.
   1. Do we pray for miracles? I must ask if I am praying for miracles. That is a challenge. We serve a God who brings about miracles.
   2. Verse 31 is a confirmation of their Spirit filled prayer.
      1. The place is shaken.
         1.                                                                                                                            i.      Did this really happen? It is possible it is metaphorical, but I favor that this is literal. God is so great that when He is present, I mean truly present there are consequences that defy natural laws.
   3. They also speak the Word of God boldly. That is the answer to their prayer.
   4. I want to read Isaiah 6:1-7:
      1. Notice this special revelation of God. God is present here. This really happened.

We eat and we want to be filled. We should pray desiring to be filled as well. We are New Testament Christians living in an increasingly secular world. Because of this we must go to the Word of God to be filled up with the Holy Spirit. Now, Christians are filled with the Spirit when we receive Christ as Savior and Lord; however, I believe as we grow in Christ we can experience special times of being filled with the Spirit. We should pray for this every day. I think this will mostly happen in small prayer circles and we need these as Christians. I think this will mostly also happen when our prayers are in the manner expressed in this passage. We must pray with worship acknowledging God as sovereign. We must pray in petition with our basic need, but also we must pray for the greater good submitting to God’s sovereign will. This prayer is for the building up of the church and it is spirit filled. Verse 31 says that they were filled with the Spirit.

Christ followers, let’s do the same. Whether or not you are a preacher, go forth and preach God’s Word including the Gospel. Do this with boldness. Pray in groups of Christians, pray in this manner and experience the Holy Spirit and get ready. Lastly, set aside diversity and instead embrace unity for the cause of the Gospel. Then, you ought to really be ready for the Holy Spirit’s work. Just last week in a small prayer gathering I experienced the gift of tongues being spoken and interpreted, though not by me. This confirmed God’s message in that prayer meeting. We need the type of prayer illustrated in this passage. I certainly do. We need, I need, Spirit-filled prayer meetings in our churches.  

Go and be Spirit-filled Christ followers, living as post resurrection Christians.

Listen as I read the words to a newer worship song:

Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble

Did you feel the mountains tremble?
Did you hear the oceans roar?
When the people rose to sing of
Jesus Christ the risen one

Did you feel the people tremble?
Did you hear the singers roar?
When the lost began to sing of
Jesus Christ the risen one

And we can see that God you’re moving
A mighty river through the nations
And young and old will turn to Jesus
Fling wide your heavenly gates
Prepare the way of the risen Lord

Open up the doors and let the music play
Let the streets resound with singing
Songs that bring your hope
Songs that bring your joy
Dancers who dance upon injustice

Did you feel the darkness tremble?
When all the saints join in one song
And all the streams flow as one river
To wash away our brokeness

And here we see that God you’re moving
A time of Jubilee is coming
When young and old return to Jesus
Fling wide your heavenly gates
Prepare the way of the risen Lord

Written by Martin Smith ©1995 Curious? Music UK

Let’s pray.

Hello readers of my blog. I want to post my sermon from last night which I preached at FBC Hubbard for the association Lenten service. Please know, I don’t want to be arrogant by posting my sermon. I hope that God may speak through the sermon to you. God bless, Steve

Introduction:

First, I want to give you my thanks for this opportunity to preach the Word of God to the people of God tonight. Thank you, it is my pleasure.

Do you have a favorite Bible passage? Maybe there is a passage that you memorized as a child and it has stuck with you ever since; maybe there is a passage that was especially meaningful to you in a life transition; maybe there is a passage that provided comfort during the death of a loved one; maybe there is a passage that provided strength when you needed it most; or, maybe there are several passages that you can think of right now? Hopefully, you can at least think of one passage. As I am sure you can imagine, the passage I will preach on this evening is one of my favorite passages. I have several favorite passages, but this one is especially applicable during this time of year. Please turn in your Bible to Phil 2:1-11:

Read Phil 2:1-11:

1. Allow me to give you some background to this letter before we dive into this passage.
   1. Philippi is the area that this letter was written to.
   2. Philippi was a colony of Rome (Acts 16:12), whose citizens enjoyed Roman citizenship (DeSilva 640-641)
   3. This made Philippi under Romans law.
   4. Philippi was not a major city.
   5. Philippi had several temples and the typical cultic practices of Romans and Greek gods. The imperial cult was strong. The GK gods such as Zeus, Apollo, Dionysus, and Artemis were strong in this city.
   6. There was probably high tension between the Christian community and the world they left behind.
   7. Paul had founded the church in Philippi which we can read about in Acts chapter 16.
   8. Now, many years later, Paul is writing this wonderful letter to them.
   9. This letter to the Philippians is one of the most memorable in the New Testament, I mean, there are amazing passages in this letter. In chapter 1 verse 21 Paul writes to “live is Christ, and to die is gain.” What a meaningful statement. It has been called a friendship letter. Yet, Paul writes this letter from a Roman prison. It is one of the Prison Epistles. This is a title given to Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon because Paul wrote them from prison. Paul references his imprisonment in many places of this letter.
   10. The people of Philippi had also been persecuted because of their faith.

Now let’s get back to the passage at hand

1.  Just look at verses 3-5 with me and see how Paul tells them to live.
   1. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. In other words, don’t do anything from selfishness or with empty pride. This is not the idea of some things, but no things, nothing. Don’t do anything from selfishness!
   2. Paul continues; with humility of mind consider others more important than yourselves.
      1.                                                               i.      This is a mindset, it starts in the mind.
      2.                                                             ii.      Wow! Humility of mind.
         1. Do you think others would call you humble?
         2. Do you have a mindset of humility? Ask someone.
         3.                                                           iii.      The test is in the rest of the verse: consider others more important than yourself.
         4.                                                           iv.      How are we doing with this? Do you walk around with a chip on your shoulder? Do you go to the store knowing that you are equal with the cashier or do you think you are more important than the cashier?
            1. Actually by this mindset the cashier at the store, the custodian is above you, they are more important than you.
   3. Remember that Paul is writing this from a prison. Paul is a Roman citizen; Paul is highly educated, yet he is writing about humility. He is also living humility. You know, not once do I see Paul writing, “This is below me, people of Philippi get me out of this prison!” No, instead, he talks about how much of a witness he is able to have with the prison guard. Paul is living humility.
   4. In verse 4 Paul says to look out for the interests of others. Again, this is the idea of humility.
      1.                                                               i.      You know, humility is a good thing in our culture. If we say someone is humble that is a compliment. But did you know that in the first century it was not a compliment to be humble?
2. Verses 6-11 are all about Jesus’ example. Jesus was very humble.
   1. Verse 6 talks about how Jesus existed in the form of God.
      1.                                                               i.      Jesus is God; Jesus was God, yet what does this passage go on to say? He did not consider being God a thing to be grasped. That is a hard thing to understand, but it basically means that Jesus was willing to set aside certain attributes of the godhead in order to become a human.
      2.                                                             ii.      In Barnes’ commentary he says, “…that is, that though he was of a divine nature or condition, he did not eagerly seek to retain his equality with God, but took on him a humble condition-even that of a servant.” (Letters to Channing, pp. 88-92)
      3.                                                           iii.      This helps me to put this into the whole picture: Paul is getting ready to talk about the crucifixion and going into the crucifixion if Christ wanted to He could have called down ten armies of angels to conquer and rescue Him back to being with God. He could have called down ten legions of angels; each legion is between 4000 and 6000 angels. So Jesus could have called down at least 40,000 angels to rescue Him from the cross. (Matthew 26:53) That would have been using “being God” to His advantage. Instead He died as a Human servant. Instead, Paul is just about to talk about what Christ did.
         1. Christ had everything; He had everything and gave it up. He gave up His royal Robes for our salvation.
         2. The American Dream (say quote, unquote American Dream) is to start at the bottom and work your way to the top. Christ started at the top and worked His way down to His death on the cross. His life was the opposite of the American Dream. Ask yourself:
            1. “Am I willing to sacrifice the American way for Christ?
            2.  Am I willing to be humiliated for Christ? Are you? How?
            3. Witnessing?
            4. Stepping outside of your comfort zone. We live in a comfort zone country. The Christian life is not about comfort zones. We are not called to live in comfort zones.
            5. Working at a homeless shelter.
            6.  Missions.
            7.  Inner city ministry. This might be neighborhood ministries or a homeless shelter.
            8. Being a friend to the one no one else will be a friend too.
            9. Jesus talked to the Outcast. The woman at the well, the woman caught in the act of adultery. In the work place there are groups and if you aren’t in the right group you are an outcast as well. Love the unlovable, help the hurting…

Mother Teresa, founder of the Roman Catholic Missionaries of Charity, working saint of the streets in Calcutta, and the recipient of the Nobel peace prize in 1979, says she finds the same thing missing in the lands of plenty as in the lands of poverty—compassion. “Maybe they are starved for bread in Africa. You are starved for love in the United States.”^[1]

I have another illustration that some from my church might remember:

Americans are eager to send money but do not want to get their hands dirty. Many times we are eager to pay towards a homeless shelter but not go and serve ourselves. This may take humility.

There may be many reasons:

1. It is in a bad section of town
2. We are too busy
3. It isn’t my gift
   1. There is a book called: Same Kind of Different as Me.
   2. This book is a true story that follows two people’s paths in life until they meet up.
   3. One person was raised in a middle class white family. He grows up and becomes very successful and very wealthy.
   4. The second person is a poor uneducated black man. He grew up as a modern day slave. His parents worked a farm and he did too. He experienced heavy racism. Eventually this man ran away. However, he never had been educated. He lived homeless and learned how to fend for himself.
   5. Eventually the wealthy white man, now married, is convinced by his wife to begin helping at a homeless shelter. They had committed their life to Christ and she wanted to go deeper. He was willing to give money, but she wanted to do more. So they start helping at a homeless shelter. She then says that she wants to take one group from the homeless shelter to dinner and a play.
   6. Now the relationship grows between this wealthy man and woman and this uneducated poor black man.
   7. The wealthy white man asks to take the uneducated black man out to breakfast. At breakfast the black man asks, “Why are you doing this?” the white man says, “To be your friend.” The black man says, “I like to fish, but I notice when white people fish they catch and release. I don’t want a ‘catch and release’ friendship.”
   8. Well, this wealthy husband and wife decided to do more than give money and because they did they touched many lives. One of those lives was that uneducated black man. Later on they formed a friendship that will last the rest of their lives and has lasted the rest of her life, as he was there for the woman’s death.  The wealthy white man and the uneducated black man published this book together.

1. Let’s read verses 7 and 8 of Philippians 2
   1.                                                               i.      Christ being equal with God still patiently waited to return to His place on the throne. While He waited He continued in the position of a servant. Reverend Billy Graham has said that it is like humans going down to the form of an ant to tell them something. This passage amazes me. Therefore, we are going to park here for a couple of minutes and talk about it.
   2.                                                             ii.      Let’s start with a rhetorical question, “How was Christ born? Think about it…..
   3.                                                           iii.      Alright, Christ was born in a manger, or a barn in a feeding trough on what was probably a cold night to a virgin woman.
   4.                                                           iv.      You and I always think of Mary as the virgin woman that was blessed by God to give birth to Jesus.
   5.                                                             v.      That is correct she was a very good and honorable woman. However, do you think all the other people thought of her that way? They thought of Mary as a woman committing adultery, they thought of her as a prostitute. I had one New Testament professor put it this way, “People would see Jesus and say, “Look! There is Jesus the son of that prostitute Mary.””
   6.                                                           vi.      We would think of a King coming down to earth and being born in a Castle into royal Robes but no, that wasn’t Christ. Christ was born into a barn, into a trough where you would usually put food or water into. This is how the Creator became part of His creation.
   7.                                                         vii.      Jesus was raised and suffered just like anyone else. He probably mourned at the death of his earthly father. He went through pain and sickness I am sure. He had emotions, in fact the Bible says that Jesus wept at the death of His friend Lazarus. He had to work and learn a trade.
   8.                                                       viii.      If I was Jesus talking to God the father in eternity past and God the Father said, “I am going to create people and they are going to break my law, will you become one of them and die for them? I would think I would say, “Alright, I’ll do it but, I have to be born into a castle with running water, air conditioning, breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day on time the same time. I don’t want to have to work. I’ll teach the people but you can make them come to me and sit in front of my throne while I talk to them. Then, I guess I have to die, just make someone assassinate me while I am asleep so I don’t feel it!!!!” NO, this wasn’t Jesus. Think about Him. He is God, He created the universe. He was with God in the creation, He knew that He will return to the form of God again but He decided to lay aside some of the attributes of being God in order to be man as well. He created man and He created the laws we live by and now He is subject to them. He was all knowing and now the Bible says that He grew in wisdom and stature which means He doesn’t know everything anymore. I am sure he was subject to body odor and bad breath just like you and I are. At least I am. He was once all powerful and will be again but for His lifetime He submitted to powers and authorities that were corrupt. That is what Christ did!
   9.                                                           ix.      The Text in verse 8 says that He was obedient to death even the death on the cross. Let’s talk about this death for a minute. There are four aspects of the pain that He had to go through for us.
      1. We must realize that Christ suffered in Physical Pain. In Grudem’s Bible Doctrinetheology text He talks about the cross this way:  Many people of the time period would have witnessed a crucifixion and had a painfully vivid mental picture upon reading the simple words “and they crucified Him”(Mark 15:24)
         1. This was a very slow death by suffocation
         2. “Arms were outstretched with and fastened to nails on the cross, he had to support most of the weight of His body with His arms. The Chest cavity would be pulled upward and outward. Making it difficult to exhale in order to draw a fresh breadth. But when the victim’s longing for oxygen became unbearable, (gasp for air) He would have to push himself up with His feet, thus giving more natural support to the weight of his body, releasing some of the weight from his arms, and enabling His chest cavity to contract more normally. By pushing himself upward in this way the criminal could fight off suffocation, but it was extremely painful because it required putting the body’s weight on the nails holding the feet, and bending the elbows and pulling upward on the nails driven through the wrist. The criminal’s back which had been torn open repeatedly by a previous flogging, would scrape against the wooden cross with each breadth. Thus, Seneca (First century A.D.) spoke of a crucified man “Drawing the breadth of life amid long drawn-out-agony” (Epistle 101 to Lucilius, sec.14). Draw a deep breath! [Note to Steve: demonstrate breathing while on a cross with my body]
         3. Sometimes people crucified would survive several days nearly suffocating but not quite dying. This is why the executioners would sometimes break the legs as we see in John 19:31-33.
         4. Also, although not a bone of Christ was broken it is quite possible that every bone was dislocated when He was fastened to the cross and then the guards picked up the cross, with Him on it, the cross was dropped into the ground slamming into its resting place. [As I describe this put my arms up as if on a cross and jump down to the step on the stage]
         5. The people He created were beating and killing Him, with all the materials He created. He created the materials to make the nails. He created the tree to get the wood. He created We killed with our sin. My sin.

A couple years ago the former president of Cedarville University Dr.Dixonshared a story that I think goes along with this: “a boy who was about sixteen years old came into the room where his father was sitting and said, “Dad can I have the car keys, I gotta go somewhere?” His dad replied, “No son, remember we talked about this, you are grounded.” The son said, “I thought it may come to this so I had my own set of keys made.” The son ran out of the house with his father chasing him. The son got into the car and started to back up. The dad stood behind the car thinking his son would stop. The son thought his dad would move. Neither did what was expected and the father died. The creation destroying the creator.  True story

1. 2.      We must realize that Christ suffered the pain of taking the sins of the world upon Himself.
   1. a.      We know the painful conviction we feel in our own life when we sin…. In fact as we grow closer to God in Holiness the more intensely we feel this deep repulsion against evil.
   2. b.      Grudem says: “Jesus was (and is, and always will be) perfectly holy. He Hated sin with His entire being. The thought of evil, of sin, contradicted everything in His character. Far more than we do, Jesus instinctively rebelled against evil. Yet in obedience to the Father, and out of love for us, Jesus took upon Himself all the sins of those who would someday be saved. Taking upon Himself all the evil against which His soul rebelled created deep revulsion in the center of His being. All that He hated most deeply was poured out fully upon Him.”
   3. c.       Scriptures frequently says that our sins were put upon Him. “The Lord Has Laid on Him the Iniquity of us all….”(Isa 53:6) “He bore the sins of many” (Isa 53:12) John the Baptist says of Him, “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29) 2Cor 5:21: “He who knew no sin became sin for us” Gal 3:13: That Christ became a curse for us. Heb 9:28: that Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. 1Peter 5:24: “He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree”.
   4. 3.      We must realize that Jesus suffered the pain of being abandoned.   
      1. a.      In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John and confided something of His agony with them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch”(Mark 14:34). This is the kind of confidence one would disclose to a close friend, and it implies a request for support in His hour of greatest trial. As soon as Jesus was arrested all the Disciples forsook Him and fled (Mathew 26:26)
      2. b.      He loved them to the end but they abandoned Him.
      3. c.       Far worse than that He was deprived of the closeness to the Father that was the deepest joy of His Heart for all His earthly Life. When Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt 27:46), He showed that He was finally cut off from the sweet fellowship with His Heavenly Father that had been the unfailing source of His inward strength and the element of greatest joy in a life filled with sorrow.
      4. 4.      We must realize that Christ suffered the pain of bearing the wrath of God.
         1. a.      Jesus became the object of the intense hatred for sin that God had patiently been holding in since the beginning of the world.
         2. b.      Romans 3:25 talks about this as propitiation: a sacrifice that bears God’s wrath to the end and in so doing changes God’s wrath toward us into favor.
         3. c.       At the cross all the fury of all that stored up wrath against sin was unleashed against God’s own Son.
2. IV.             Let’s read the last three verses of our text: 9-11
   1. a.      Jesus isn’t dead anymore. We serve a risen Savior. Everyone will acknowledge someday that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Conclusion:

We must be Christ like. We must follow Christ example in this way. The church has everything to offer the community, not the other way around. However, In order to help people you have to be a servant. To be a servant you have to be humbled.

• How are we treating others?
• Christians?
• Non-Christians?
• Are we looking upon others as better than ourselves?
• Are we being humble?
• Are we willing to die a humiliating death to help someone else? I know this is a strong statement, but verse 5 had said to have the attitude of Christ, what did He do? He died for the gospel.
• Once again, are we willing to be humiliated in order to help others?
• This humiliation could be in many forms:

1. You will be humiliated by being seen with someone who has been looked down upon.
2. You will be humiliated because the person you are trying to help may be different than you.
3. You will be humiliated because you are cleaning up trash and cleaning restrooms when usually you have people do that for you.
4. You will be humiliated, or offended by the person’s dress, language, etc.
5. You will be humiliated in many other ways…..fill in the blank

This all has to do with your perspective; are you storing up treasures in Heaven or on earth? Martin Luther said, “I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all, but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.” Jim Elliot said, “He is not fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

Are you being humble as Jesus is humble?

Pray

Hi all,

I have thought about a blog for some time now, though I never knew what I would write about. Well, if I am going to have a blog it must have a purpose. I don’t want to simply write to write. So, my plan for this blog will be to write about what I am reading and what I am learning. More specifically, I will write about the books, articles, blogs, etc which I read that relate to the Bible and God’s church. Soon, I also want to start a blog-study which will be on this blog or another. In this case we will read a chapter of a book every two weeks and we will discuss said book on the blog. You will be able to comment and comment to each other. Next post, which may be today, will be an overview of the books that I am currently reading. God bless.

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