Bro Gary Sunday AM 4/3/11

Bro Gary Sunday AM 4/3/11

Mat 16:20  Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

Mat 16:21  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Mat 16:22  Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.

Mat 16:23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Mat 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Mat 16:25  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Mat 16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

Mat 16:27  For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

Mat 16:28  Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

Jesus told His disciples about His cross and he also told His disciples of their cross.  My thought is not that it is so hard to serve God.  I know what the bible says, “The Way of the transgressor is hard.”  I have seen too much.  

I preached the funeral of a young man.  If you would have looked at the crowd and see how sin treats men and women, you would thank God with me that I chose the road of salvation.  You can choose the road of sin, but that is the low road.  Not taking the cross does not mean that you will not have difficulty.  

Peter didn’t have an understanding at this point that Jesus was going to have a need to go to the cross so that he could have eternal life.

Joh 19:13  When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.

Joh 19:14  And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!

Joh 19:15  But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

Joh 19:16  Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.

Joh 19:17  And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:

Joh 19:18  Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

Jesus carried His cross.  In Matt 27 it records Jesus falling beneath the cross and Simon compelled to carry.

1Co 1:17  For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

1Co 1:18  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

The bible teaches baptism, but Paul said he wasn’t called to baptize.  He was called to preach the gospel.   This is not leaving the thought that we ought to not study, but we are not to convert men by play on words.  It is important that we keep the cross and preaching of it in its right place of importance.

It is still true today; the preaching of the cross is to them that don’t want it foolishness. To us that are saved it is the power of God.  

The effects of the cross:

Zechariah 13:1 KJVR

(1)  In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

Peter didn’t understand this prophecy when he rebuked Jesus.

Joh 19:34  But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

Jesus came to fulfill the prophecy.  It took this blood to make the atonement for sin.  

When Solomon dedicated the temple they dedicated a thousand sheep for a sin offering to God for the sins of the people.  The average length of a sheep is 4.5 foot long.  This many sheep would be a line of sheep on the highway from here all the way to the Idaho border.  Still it wouldn’t have mattered if it were 1,000,000 sheep, this type of sacrifice would only have given them a temporary forgiveness of sin.

This man, Jesus, knew that as he hung on the cross “I am buying forgiveness, an atonement, and innocence back for those that have lost it.”  Refuse to let the world take the innocence from your children too young.  When innocence is lost, it completely changes the course of life.  There are many things that children should never know and never be exposed to.  Thank God for everything that we are innocent to.  

The old lie of the enemy to Eve that she needed to know.  Know the genuine and you will know the false.  Be determined to be on the Sea of Glass mingled with fire that it speaks of in Revelations.  

The church has always had discernment.  We all need to ask for enough to stay saved and stand against the spirits that we come against.  We don’t need to know anything more than there is darkness there.  We don’t need to take the pieces apart to tell people that there is darkness there.  They will know it already if they do not love darkness.

Hebrews 10:1-4 KJVR

(1)  For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

(2)  For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.

(3)  But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.

(4)  For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

We don’t have any trouble dealing with the thoughts of the lessons in the Old Testament.  Jesus came that the fountain would be opened forever to take away the sin of the world.

Heb 10:5  Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:

Heb 10:6  In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

Jesus looked down on the condition of life in the Old Testament and had sympathy.  He saw that they came and offered and never had power to live above sin or have spiritual life.

There is life in the blood for every soul that is dead in sins and spiritual trespasses.  They can take whatever course that they choose and they will never be able to get free of the debt of sin outside of the blood of Jesus Christ.  The blood of Jesus Christ brings life.

“Behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.” (St. John 1:29)  Jesus was looked upon as the lamb of God.  You and I would have no idea of the millions of lambs that had been offered for sin. There had also been other offerings besides lambs sometimes it was pigeons.  God had no pleasure in any of them.

Heb 10:7  Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

Heb 10:8  Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;

Heb 10:9  Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.

Heb 10:10  By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Heb 10:11  And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:

Heb 10:12  But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

Sometimes people don’t know what to do with their sin.  They may think, “I’ve been bad and I’d like to do something good.”  You can never balance out sin by doing enough good.  Sin is always hurtful and it leaves the mark of sin.

This man Jesus made one sacrifice for sin forever.

Heb 10:13  From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

By the baptism of repentance: everyone that has ever known the baptism of repentance knows that it takes the focus off of everyone else and puts it where the focus needs to be:  I need a savior.  When we were in sin and God began to convict us of our sin, the baptism of repentance helped us realize that we needed a savior and that we were lost and undone.

In Colossians 1:21 it says that we were enemies in our minds and in our works.  Sin is a terrible thing.  

When I think of What God gave when He formed you in your mother’s womb.  Everyone in this audience can be so thankful that you were born with arms and legs and every one of them is normal.  You can be thankful that you were born with a mind that developed.  Be thankful that you are able to count and able to read.  

We have much to be thankful for.  It however wasn’t long after we were born that we lost our innocence to sin.  We made a wrong choice.  Jesus went to the cross and loved us so much that he made a way that we could be forgiven and be brought back to innocence before Him.

When I think of how people loosely deal with their soul.  This day, in 2011, the sun came up.  Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are drawing on souls, enemies of Christ.  They are expecting that they will turn around.  They are not doing it just to be faithful, He is expecting to be able to rest in them.  

Tonight we expect visitors to be here.  Maybe you called on people that really had it together; it seemed I called on people that really needed to get it together.  I looked on them and thought that “Sin is not treating you well.”

Jesus is expecting them to be his resting place, His footstool.  It is a labor of love, of hope, and patience that they be saved.

Heb 10:14  For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

We will never graduate from needing God.  As you walk with God and He shines light on your pathway, the cry is “Oh God with your word and your blood, wash that which is hindering me away.”  

You may have something that always lays in your mind and you realize that it is always drawing you away from God.  It may be something that was said to you, a personal fear (The fear of heart disease or cancer or other fears will never edify you and will cause you to be paranoid.)  We can go to God and His son and ask Him to perfect our mind.  

We may be bound with what we think that we cannot do.  Hold on, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”  He wants us perfected of those thoughts and not bound up in them.  

Heb 10:15  Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,

Heb 10:16  This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

Heb 10:17  And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

From Adam to whenever, souls were not able to get the law written in their hearts.  Simeon loved God, Zacharias, Mary, and Elizabeth loved God, but the majority of the people in the Old Testament times were not able to get the law written on their hearts.

One day on a hill called Mt Calvary Jesus made a way that our sins could be forgiven and we could get a new heart. Our heart is one thing that must be renewed.  He said, I’m going to make a way that I can put my laws in your heart and mind.

I look at my grandson’s picture, not a year old, he’s innocent.  

I see another scene, John Newton, he went out into deep sin and wasted his life.  (We could use the prodigal son as the example or you could use me or I could use you however it would be real in your mind.)  

When we come confessing and repenting of our sin and God forgives sin through the blood of his only begotten son, He brings us back to innocence before God.  There will be those that will never forget your sins, but God remembers everything except for what you have repented of.  

All that were able to attend Walt’s funeral know that he still had war in his mind.  His dad was worthless according to his testimony before he died, he had a grandmother that was able to take him and his siblings in.  Walt was scarred and lived a life of wrong choices.  

Hebrews 10:18 KJVR

(18)  Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

When you confess and repent, crying out to God, that blood, (You talk about power!), that blood makes an atonement.  It has been making an atonement for almost 2000 years, it has not lost any of its powerful characteristics, it is just the same today.

The life is in the blood.  There are times that we realize that we need the blood on our mind to work its mighty work.  Perhaps you feel like your mind is on a downhill course and there is no ending of that course, claim the blood.  

There are times when you feel like you are exhausted spiritually.  You feel like you have used all your spiritual energies.  You say, “Oh God can you cause that blood to pass by again, because I need renewing.”

1 John 1:7 KJVR

(7)  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

When we come confessing and repenting, the blood cleanses.  When we walk in the light, there is a shield of blood; the devil will try to temp you and draw you aside this way or that.  When those spirits begin to work, we claim the blood.

“The world behind me the cross before me.”  Let us keep it real what the cross has done and is doing for us.  I was there in sin and there was no way out except for the cross and the blood of Jesus Christ.  

The blood of Christ cleanses all sin.  I don’t know what temptations you will face or what your senses will tell you, but you don’t have to go the way of temptation.  The blood cleanses.

Eph 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Eph 1:8  Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

We have redemption.  It is wonderful to experience the effects of the cross.  Why do we need the affects of the cross?  Because we all have sinned.  

Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

There is something so wonderful about the attitude f the father and of the son.  We need one another.  Even with all that we have been entrusted with, we don’t have everything.  I don’t have everything; I don’t know it all.  We need one another.  

Col 1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

Think if you can of the cross.  Karen sings the song:  “When He was on the cross, I was on His mind.”  

I didn’t count the times that the grandfather of that young man told me that his grandson was a troubled man.  This world is full of troubled men and women and it is because of sin.  

Those that think that if they just had a job or just had their home back, if they did it would not bring peace.  That man in prison that thinks, “If I could just get out of this place.”, it would not bring peace.

There was a great price paid for peace.  This peace was for me and you.  He already had peace.  He made peace through the blood of His cross.

Col 1:21  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

It is wonderful that the war is over.  God made a way that you and I could have peace, in the body of His flesh through death.  As His life’s blood flowed, as he suffered and drew his last breath, He didn’t do it for himself; he did it for you and me.  

I can guarantee to you that God, His son, and the Holy Spirit will never ask too much of me or of you. 

He then tells us that He’s going to bring us to a point of being unblamable and unreproveable in His sight.  He’s saying that He’s going to give us what we need to be obedient children.  He’s not going to try to make us important; instead He says “Take your cross.”