The Passion of Christ
God Showed His Love For Us
As He Guides Us
April 25, 2004
Genesis 1:1; Revelation 21:5-7
Over these past few weeks we have thought about several wonderful ways that God Has Shown His
Love For Us. He showed His Love For Us
In The Eternal Past
When He Came To This Earth
When He Died For Our Sins
When He Raised From The Dead
And when He Saves Us
All these things are great and wonderful, but let’s think about another very
important way that He Shows His Love For Us, and that is As He Guides Us.
We’ve read of many cases in the Old Testament where God actually met, spoke to,
fellowshipped with, and revealed himself and his will to many different people.
Over and over again, he revealed his will for their lives and for the lives of
others. He gave them many prophecies of both good and bad that were sure to be
fulfilled. He spoke to people about the blessings that they could receive if they
would faithfully serve him. He also warned them about the sufferings and the
heartaches they would undergo if they failed to follow his guidance and walk in
his ways. He moved upon the hearts of his faithful men to write the Old Testament
so that people could know his very heart and the many wonderful things he had in
store for those that would truly trust and obey him.
Certainly we can’t go back and look at all the challenges, the revelations, the
wonderful fellowship, and all the great victories the Lord’s people enjoyed as
they faithfully followed him. But just to give us an idea about some the wonderful
things that happened I want us to look at a few verses that are found in Hebrews
the 11th chapter. The Holy Spirit begins by telling us that by faith our
forefathers "obtained a good report."
He tells us that through faith
Abel made a more excellent sacrifice than his brother Cain.
Enoch walked with God and was translated that he should not see death.
Noah prepared and ark to save his family from the destruction of the universal flood.
Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Rehab, Gideon, Barak, Samson,
David, Samuel, and the Prophets loved the Lord and faithfully served him.
Listen carefully as we continue to read what the Lord tells us about the
victorious lives of more of his faithful people beginning in Hebrews 11:33-40 "Who
through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped
the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword,
out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the
armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others
were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better
resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover
of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted,
were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being
destitute, afflicted, tormented; Of whom the world was not worthy: they wandered
in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all,
having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having
provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made
perfect."
So yes, we could say without any doubt whatsoever that God lead His followers in
Old Testament days.
And as we have already seen, He led them in many different ways. Sometimes
speaking to them in an audible voice, sometimes in dreams, sometimes in the house
of God, or as in the case to Moses, God spoke to him from a burning bush. But all
the way from Adam and Eve right down to this day the Lord has always been there to
lead and to guide those that have a desire to follow him. When you stop to think
about it, what kind of a God would He be if He created us and wanted us to live
and fellowship with Him but never explained to us how to worship and to serve Him?
Oh no my friend, our God is not like that. He has always, right from the days of
Adam and Eve, very plainly shown and told us His perfect will for our lives.
That’s the reason He called and sent His prophets and preachers to tell the people
about His divine will for their lives. That’s the reason He moved upon the hearts
of His faithful men to pen the 39 books of the Old Testament.
If people were going to follow the Lord the way they needed to and the way the
Lord wanted them to, they must not only have men of God and prophets of God, but
they must also have a textbook to follow. Did the people always follow the audible
voice of God, the prophets, the preachers of God, or even the written word of God?
Sometimes they followed but certainly not always!
But surely the Lord couldn’t be blamed if the people chose not to follow Him, His
Prophets, His Preachers, and His Words, could He? That would be something like us
buying a gift for our children that must be assembled before it would be of any
value to them. The kind salesman at the store tells us how to assemble it.
The instructions are printed on the package complete with drawings and schematics
showing us exactly what to do and how to do it. But as soon as we get home we take
the gift out of the box ignore what the salesman told us and then burn the box
with all the instructions. Then about halfway through the assembly we realize that
something is drastically wrong, so we hurry back to the friendly salesman and tell
him that the parts don’t fit together like they should. And then to our surprise
he asks us this very simple question. "Did you follow the instructions exactly as
I told you and as they were printed on the box?" And it’s about that time that we
finally realize that the fault wasn’t with the instructions, because we had in
fact destroyed them, but the fault was no one’s but our own!
And people that disregarded the instructions the Lord gave them, whether it be by
the mouth of His Prophets, His Preachers, or the Word of God, will sometime and
somewhere have to realize and admit that the fault wasn’t the Lord’s, but it was
their own.
But did the Lord throw up his hands and quit when he saw multitudes upon
multitudes failing to follow His words, His men, and His leading? No. Just as God
lead His followers in Old Testament days, God lead His followers in New Testament
days.
What are some of the ways that the Lord continued to lead his people? First, God
sent His only begotten Son into the world. Do you remember those wonderful verses
in John 3:16-17? "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For
God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world
through him might be saved."
I’m sure that all of us know and love the story of how Jesus came to this earth by
the way of a virgin birth and how he lived a 100% perfect and a holy life. I’m
sure that all of us know that he didn’t just come to teach us, although he did
that. We find the words Jesus said, or their equivalents, somewhere around 200
times in the four Gospels. The precious Son of God counseled with, preached to,
taught, and agonized for all kinds of people.
He spoke to
the rich and the poor.
the sickly and the well.
the righteous and the ungodly.
the disciples and the demons.
the sinful and the saints.
In fact everywhere he went, he was constantly speaking to people, even those that
many of the super religious crowd would have nothing to do with.
"But why?" someone asks. Simply because the Son of God was always in perfect
harmony with his Heavenly Father. Listen as he says in John 5:30 "I can of mine
own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek
not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." What was the
will of God the Father? His will was to save us and give us eternal life, but he
also wanted us to follow in his righteous ways.
We that believe the bible can easily see where God spoke countless times, in many
different ways, in the Old Testament. And what was it that Jesus said in John
5:30? "I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me."
Jesus is telling us that his will is the same as his Father’s will: to see people
receive the eternal life that he offers them and then faithfully follow their
Heavenly Father’s will in their lives.
You see beloved
Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins.
He was buried for 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth.
He raised again from the dead.
He sits at the right hand of his heavenly Father today making intercession for us.
And he will save anyone who will admit they are a sinner in his sight, repent, ask
for his forgiveness, and receive him as their very own personal Lord and Saviour.
But certainly the story doesn’t end there because the Devil never wants anyone to
do God’s perfect will in his or her life. He will always offer an alternative that
is far worse than God’s best, just as he did to Adam and Eve back in the Garden of
Eden. Not only does the Devil always have something that is inferior to offer us,
but look at what he offered our Lord in Matthew 4:1 "Then was Jesus led up of the
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil." After he had fasted for
forty days and forty nights, he was very hungry and it was then that the Devil
tried to plant the thought in his mind that he wasn’t truly the precious Son of
God.
He challenged him to turn the stones into bread and Jesus quoted the scriptures
that said "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
The Devil challenged him again trying to get him to jump from the Pinnacle of the
temple to prove that he was the Son of God. Jesus again answered him with
scripture by saying "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."
But the Devil never quits easily, does he?
This time he took him upon a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of
the world and told him that he would give them all to him if he would fall down
and worship him. But we continue to read in verse 10, "Then saith Jesus unto him,
Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and
him only shalt thou serve."
Jesus longed more than any thing to do his Father’s will. He taught his disciples
in Luke 11:2 "When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy
name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth." But Jesus
not only taught others to pray for God the Father’s will to be done in all things,
he practiced it himself. Go with me if you would please, to the absolute darkest
of all hours in our Lord’s life, when he was about to go through the horrible
trials, the mocking, the beatings, and then the horrible crucifixion. But let’s
begin our reading of what happened a few hours before that in Matthew 26:36 "Then
cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the
disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and
the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he
unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and
watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed,
saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless
not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth
them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O
my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be
done."
You see, Jesus not only told us to pray for the Father’s will to be done at all
costs, but he prayed this prayer knowing full well that the Old Rugged Cross and a
horrible death was waiting for him just a few short hours away. He is saying, with
a heart that is burdened under the heavy load of the sin that was to be placed
upon him, "Father not my will but your will be done." That’s what our Heavenly
Father desires for us, simply because his perfect will is always the very best for
our lives.
But as you well know, after the resurrection, the Lord remained on this earth for
only a few short days and then ascended back to his Heavenly Father. What would
people do now? Yes, they had the Old Testament, including the Ten Commandments,
that could help to guide them. They had been taught many things from the Word of
God. The great Preachers and Prophets of the past had helped to steer them in the
right direction. Jesus himself had taught them many things about how they could
serve their Heavenly Father in a greater way. But listen carefully as Jesus tells
them in Luke 4:23-24 "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to
worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit
and in truth." How was this going to happen?
Listen carefully to what the Lord had Luke tell us in Acts 1:1-5 "The former
treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had
given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed
himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them
forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And,
being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart
from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have
heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the
Holy Ghost not many days hence."
So now we see that God sent the Holy Spirit into the world.
What will this third person of the Trinity do? How is He going to help us beyond
what we have already received? We already had the Old Testament, the Preachers,
and Prophets from the past, that tried to lead us in the paths of the Lord. We
already had the Lord Jesus Christ that dide the same thing and we crucified him
for that. But still, God loved us so much that he was going to send the Holy
Spirit into the world, to once again help us in so many great and wonderful ways.
Jesus told his Disciples in John 14:23-27 "Jesus answered and said unto him, If a
man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come
unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my
sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have
said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
What was to be the work of the Holy Spirit when he came into the world? He was to
teach us all things and to bring things to remembrance that Jesus had spoken. He
is also to indwell us, lead us, and comfort us. And he moved upon the hearts of
the New Testament writers to complete the perfect Word of God that we hold in our
hands today. His responsibilities also was to continue to lead us as the Old
Testament saints were led and as the people in Jesus’ day were led.
Dear Friend, today the Lord has gone to great extremes so that he could bring us
back from the lost and fallen condition that Adam and Eve brought about in the
Garden of Eden. Think carefully with me again about some of the things he has done
for us down through the millennia.
Consider how He faithfully led his followers in Old Testament days, how He moved
upon the hearts of Holy men to write the Sacred Scriptures, how He sent His only
begotten Son into the world to teach us, challenge us, and then give his life for
us upon the cross of Calvary, be buried, and rise again from the dead after three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Then he sent the Holy Spirit into
the world to continue to draw us to him, lead us, comfort us, encourage us, and
challenge us to be the kind of people that can bring honor and glory unto the
Lord.
But that still wasn’t all of the work that the Holy Spirit was sent to do. He was
also sent to inspire God’s chosen men to write the New Testament. And inspire them
he did. Under his Divine inspiration, we have the blessed privilege to have to
hold, to read, and Praise God, to be led by the precious Word of God.
There isn’t a question that is too difficult for him to answer! There isn’t a
problem that is too hard for the Lord to solve for you, if you will only let him
do so! Oh friend, the Lord wants to lead us in his perfect will and he wants us to
have his absolute best in our hearts and lives. How could we ever doubt the Lord
when he told us basically the same thing in five different verses in the book of
John? Let's read just one of those verses. John 16:23 "Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." The
other verses are John 14:13, John 14:14, John 15:16, and John 16:24.
Child of God, this morning The Lord’s desire is to lead us every step of the way
through this life and then throughout all eternity.
He wants to lead us
in Scriptural baptism
into church membership where we can honor and glorify him
in our service to him
into the right occupation
and every step of the way of our lives
But the question is, will we let him lead us?
I fear that sometimes we’re too much like a 5 year old kindergarten student that
was having some trouble making her letters properly. Her teacher tried to show her
how to hold her pencil differently so that she could improve her penmanship. But
the little girl looked at her and said "I’ve been writing like this for 5 years
and it’s very hard for me to change." Oh folks, the best thing in the world that
we could do when the Lord is speaking to us is to follow him the very best that we
possibly can. Yes, even if it means making a change in something that we have been
doing for a long time! Simply because, He always wants His best for us.
Will we surrender our hearts and lives unto him today and let him lead us into his
perfect will? Perhaps there is someone that has never received him as their very
own personal Lord and Saviour. Will you open your heart and life to him? Let him
lead you, first of all, to eternal salvation, and then let him constantly lead you
in your daily life. Will you surrender yourself and your life to him right now?
Copyright © 2004 by Dr. Kennith Atkison
This material is provided for personal study or for use in preparation of sermons,
Sunday school classes, or other oral communication. This material may be quoted in
written form with appropriate credit and may be copied or reprinted for distribution
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It may not be reprinted for commercial publication.
