THE TROJAN HORSE OF HEAVEN
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. WELL WISHERS. For 98 percent of the students at the school where John Hyde’s wife teaches, English is a second language. But that didn't stop them from giving her Christmas cards. Still, their enthusiasm for the occasion sometimes exceeded their grasp of English. Among the many cards that flooded her desk were: "Happy Birthday, Grandma," "Get Well Soon," and "Congratulations on Passing Your Driving Test!" John Hyde
2. PUSHED THE WRONG BUTTON. Flying through the Midwest in the summertime means one thing: turbulence. I was working as a flight attendant on one particular flight when we hit a patch of very rough air just after a young teenager, obviously on her first flight, had entered the bathroom. After the bumps had subsided, she exited the bathroom, a look of sheer terror etched on her face.
"Are you all right?" I asked as I helped her to her seat. "That turbulence was as bad as it gets."
"So that's what it was," she said. "I thought I'd pushed the wrong button."
B. STORY OF THE TROJAN WAR
Around 1250 B.C., Paris, the Trojan prince, wrongly convinced the Greek Queen of Sparta, Helen, to leave her husband Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy. The Greek city-states united to send a war party of 1,000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy. For 10 long years the Greeks battled the Trojans, but could not breach the walls of Troy. Finally, sensing they would never be able to enter Troy by force of arms, they decided to attempt to enter it by subterfuge. They built a large replica of a horse, the symbol of Troy. During the night all their ships withdrew, leaving behind only the great monument to Troy’s invincibility on the beach. The Trojans, elated at finally winning the 10 year conflict, triumphantly ushered the great statue into the city and celebrated. But late that night, Greek soldiers emerged from the horse and opened the city gates to the Greek army which had returned at sundown. They burned the city and killed its inhabitants and took Helen back to Menelaus. [Source: Homer's "The Iliad."]
C. THESIS
This story parallels what happened in redemptive history.
I. THE DREADFUL VICTORY OF THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS
A. CRUEL TRIUMPH IN THE GARDEN
1. Satan – a fallen angel who led an unsuccessful rebellion against God – tricked Adam & Eve into following him into disobedience and sin. They ended up trapped in the fortress of Death. This fortress was impregnable, like Troy, because "the sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law" (1 Corinthians 15:56). Sin passed to all men and death by sin.
2. By God's own law there was no escape from death for mankind. No amount of works could free us; no sacrifices could avail to atone for our transgressions. No angelic intervention could affect a change. It looked as if the Prince of Darkness had won a victory against God that could never be reversed. But God wasn’t done yet!
B. THE ONLY POSSIBLE SOLUTION
1. The only possible way to free us: Someone must get inside the fortress of Death and overthrow its power from within and then lead its prisoners out. But the only way to enter was by death!
2. And whoever was going to pull this off had to be someone far more powerful and perfect than humans; but God couldn’t do it, nor Angels, because they could not die. Paul outlined the resulting strategy; “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man” 1 Cor. 15:21.
3. The writer of Hebrews tells us that God’s Son, Jesus, volunteered to take on a human body. Scripture says; “When Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me…” Heb. 10:5; “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” John 1:14; “God was manifest in the flesh” 1 Tim. 3:16.
C. THE MOTIVE BEHIND GOD’S RESCUE
1. The most wonderful aspect of this story is God’s motive for deciding to do this: LOVE! “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Rom. 5:6-8.
2. Since Jesus was God, He could live a sinless life and become the sin-bearer for an almost infinite amount of sins; as man, Christ could die and be able to infiltrate the stronghold of death for us. The Book of Hebrews says that Jesus “shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” Heb. 2:14-15.
3. Only by death could Jesus atone for our sins. Death was the last enemy of mankind. So conquering death was necessary; Death's realms must be invaded and conquered!
II. THE DARK DAY OF BATTLE
A. CHRIST HUNG ON THE CROSS
1. Many have thought that Christ's death on the cross looked like weakness or defeat (2 Cor. 13:4), but the Cross was actually the Trojan horse by which Death’s realms were invaded.
2. The devil never figured out what God was doing when He allowed Christ to become man. That’s why the demons Jesus cast out always seemed surprised He was in human form; "You are the Holy One of God!" "You are the Son of God!" (Mark 1:24; 3:11). Paul agrees, "None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory" 1 Cor. 2:8.
B. EVENTS OF THE CROSS
50And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. 51At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. 52The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. 54When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!" Matt. 27:50-54.
III. THE CHAMPION CRUSHES SATAN
A. THE DESCENT INTO HELL
1. THE FACT OF HIS GOING INTO HELL. Peter quotes David saying (Ps. 16:8-11; Acts 2:27), “Because You will not leave my soul in hell, neither will You suffer Your Holy One to see corruption.” Acts 2:31, “He [David] seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption.” See also 1 Peter 3:19-20, “He went and preached to the spirits in prison…” Eph. 4:9-10, “Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.” Phip. 2:10-11, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” His Lordship must have been exercised in each dominion.
2. In Johnny Hart’s comic strip B.C. two women are sitting on a small hill. One is reading the Bible and says, "my goodness. . . Says here. . . Jesus descended into hell"! The other is shocked and says, "You're kidding"! Then the woman with the Bible says, "no. . . Not to stay! He just dropped in to cancel our reservations"!
3. When Jesus died, Death came to claim its greatest prize -- the Son of God. Isaiah 14:9-10 once described the celebration in hell when a king of Babylon descended into it. “Sheol [hell] below is all astir to meet you at your coming; it rouses the spirits of the departed to greet you— all those who were leaders in the world; it makes them rise from their thrones— all those who were kings over the nations. They will all respond, they will say to you, "You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us."
4. Imagine the uproar and mocking when Death led the Son of God in! But, the Bible tells us that just as Samson broke his bonds when the Philistines cheered his capture, (and killed 1000 of them), so Christ was filled with infinite power and broke the chains of death and overthrew the power of hell, mortally wounding the Prince of Darkness.
5. How could He stay dead Who is the Source and Generator of all life? Who’s name is the "Author of Life"(Acts 3:15)? Who said, "I AM the Resurrection and the Life, he who believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (Jn. 11:25)? Who is declared in Hebrews 7:16 to have "the power of an indestructible life"?
B. THE CHAMPION “PREVAILED”
1. At that moment God exerted His mighty strength (Eph. 1:20) in Christ and Jesus became a Quickening (life-giving) Spirit. Like at the Transfiguration, unlimited power and light infused him. Like David defeating Goliath, he overthrew sin and death. DON’T YOU KNOW THE DEVIL GOT A SURPRISE! 1 Cor. 15:54 says, "Death is swallowed up of Life…"
2. The Apostle John in Rev. 5:4-7; 11-12; “I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered! He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." 6Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"
C. THE RESURRECTION CERTAIN
1. The Bible tells us that after His Resurrection Jesus "showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs" Acts 1:3;
a. Over a period of 40 days
b. 12 different appearances
c. Once to more than 500 people
2. A Christian was asked, "What do you think about Buddha?" "He was a great philosopher." "What do you think about Mohammed?" "He was a great conqueror!" "Don't you have anything bad to say about them?" "No!" "Why not?" "Because my mama told me never to speak evil of the dead!" I'm here to talk about the One who is Alive! And holds the keys to Death, Hell, and Grave!
3. The Resurrection of Jesus Proves:
a. That He's the divine Son Of God (Romans 1:4; Acts 17:30-31).
b. That His Sacrifice was Accepted by the Father (Acts 2:33)
c. He has power over sin and its consequences.
d. Pledge of our own resurrection; John 14:19 -- "Because I live you shall live also." According to Romans 10:9, you cannot be saved unless you believe in the Resurrection of Jesus.
CONCLUSION
A. QUOTES
1. NAPOLEON QUOTE. “I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour untold millions of men would die for Him.” –Napoleon
2. HISTORIAN PHILIP SCHAFF. “Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of school, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.” –Philip Schaff
B. ILLUSTRATION
1. In elementary school geography class, we learned that the southernmost part of Africa is a point which experiences tremendous storms. For many years no one knew what was beyond that Cape, for no ship attempting to skirt it had ever returned to tell. It was known as the "Cape of Storms." In the 16th century, Vasco da Gama successfully sailed around that very point and found a great calm sea and beyond it the shores of India. The name of that Cape was changed from the “Cape of Storms” to the “Cape of Good Hope.”
Until Jesus Christ rose from the dead, death had been the Cape of storms on which all hopes of life beyond had been wrecked. No one knew what lay beyond that point. But on Easter morning, Jesus overcame our last great enemy and now we can see beyond death to the hope of heaven and eternal life!
C. ALTAR CALL
1. Why did Jesus die on the cross? So you wouldn't have to. He died as your substitute. Sin separates us, alienates us from God.
2. "But God demonstrated his love toward us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." It was selfless, heroic love.
3. This life is only the dressing room for eternity. I'm sad to say... not everyone talking about heaven is going there. So what bearing does Easter have on our lives?
4. You are facing a holy God this morning. It is no accident that you're here. God calls you to make a choice, an ultimatum. Repent. Surrender your life. To ignore this choice is not an option.
5. Rev. 3:20. PRAYER
