THE JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM
~ Part One ~
In the recent weeks, I have become excited with what God is doing in this family of believers. There is a remnant of people that is growing in number and in purpose for the future of Lighthouse Assembly of God.
Many see the vision of what God has for restoring our fellowship. We are heading in the right direction, but not without the sacrificing of our time and energy.
Listen carefully. It’s important that we all know where we are going. Allow me to share with you a story about a successful business friend I once knew in Evansville, IN. Although John is a very smart man, he is a little different. John is always getting himself into risky predicaments.
He loves expensive toys like motorcycles, race cars and speed boats. And John is known to be a little reckless with his toys.
John’s friends and family seldom ever go with him when he takes any of his toys out for the day. (John was dangerous.)
A few years ago he decided to take up flying as his new hobby. In spite of his failing eyesight and heart problems, John bought an old dilapidated single engine plane. He studied and worked hard to get his pilot’s license. The day finally came for John to take his solo flight.
And since that first solo flight, all of John’s flights have been solo flights.
One day John invited me to go flying with him. He could tell that I wasn’t too excited to go. John tried to convince me that I would be perfectly safe.
He reached in his pocket and pulled out his pocket sized (GPS) Global Positioning Satellite device and said,
“Don’t worry, I know where I am going.”
Right away, I was decided I wouldn’t go anywhere with John in his airplane.
My friend, there are many folks who think they know exactly where they are going. But they really don’t know.
Let me caution to not rely on the wrong friend to show you, or take you where they want to go. It could be dangerous.
The fact is that without God’s direction for our lives, we can easily find ourselves not going where Christ wants to take us.
Let Jesus become your best friend and let Him show you where you need to go!
Here’s the Truth for today: If you consider yourself to be a believer in Christ, then you must also be a follower of Christ.
We must mean what we sing, “I’ll go where You want me to go…dear Lord.”
Text: Luke 9:51 thru 53
Prayer: Lord, Your direction is where we desire to go. Take us, lead us, and may we JOURNEY with You TO JERUSALEM?
My hope is that today’s message will cause each of us to prepare our hearts for Easter. We will begin a series that will focus on the events surrounding the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.
The title of the series is –
THE JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM.
In our passage, we find Jesus at an interesting, if not difficult, moment in his earthly life of ministry. Jesus is quite busy with the task of healing the sick, raising the dead, delivering the demoniac, teaching the people, and (oh yeah) preaching to those who were religious.
All is well. Jesus can easily see the fruit of His labor with those who wanted His ministry. But when it came to those who opposed His ministry, Jesus simply stayed the course. Jesus was focused and determined not to become discouraged.
We have to admire that in someone.
Taking/carrying the Gospel to the world is seldom ever easy to do.
In our scripture, Jesus is suddenly, almost without warning, summoned to go to Jerusalem. Nothing else mattered…
The disciples may have been surprised, but Jesus wasn’t.
Jesus lived every moment of His life knowing the specific purpose and the specific destiny for His life. So many times Jesus tried to warn the disciples.
Just a few verses earlier (in verse 22), Jesus said,
"The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."
Again He tried to tell them in verse 44,
44 "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."
45 But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.
My friend the disciples did not understand what Christ was saying. His speech was clear and simple, but the disciples heard what they wanted to hear.
Have you ever had that problem?
Many Christians living today only want to hear what they want to hear.
They deceive themselves by thinking -
· Jesus gave up the treasures of heaven, so we could just lay up treasures for ourselves here on earth.
· Jesus bore the mocking and abuse, so we could be esteemed and be well thought of…you know, pillars of our community.
· Jesus suffered with the pain of the cross, so we could live in comfort.
· Jesus died, so we could live it up.
That is not sound theology.
That kind of thinking is nothing short of heresy, itself! And yet, many Christians live that way asking,
“What is it that can Christ do for me?”
Jesus said in the 23rd and 24th verse,
"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
Our text tells us that the “face of Jesus was set for the JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM” The truth (this morning) is we must also set our face for the JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM.
An old godly preacher recently said,
”When Jesus set his face to walk the Calvary road, he was not merely taking our place; he was setting our pattern.”
Jesus knows there can be no other greater reason for His coming to earth, but to ultimately GO TO JERUSALEM.
When it came to accomplishing His Father’s will for His life, Jesus didn’t need (my friend’s) hand held GPS.
My friend, Jesus knows the direction for your life. He is your compass. He is your direction.
Psalm 119:105
Your word (Jesus) is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
I want what Jesus had. I want to know where I am, where I need to be and where I am going.
My friend, where are you going with your life? Are going towards Jerusalem, the Holy City of God?
We all need to not only be like Jesus, but:
· Know exactly where we are going in our life.
· “Steadfastly set our face towards Jerusalem.”
Jesus had a calling on His life and He was faithful and steadfast to that calling.
There was no changing His mind where He was going. Nothing else mattered to except His JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM.
In case you weren’t aware, Jerusalem is your City of Destiny.
Jerusalem is where we are all headed.
Rev 21:1-4
1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.
2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
4 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
There is coming a day when we will enter the streets of that city, that city built “Four Square”, that is the New Jerusalem.
And there we shall live forever.
Listen. The only way you can get there is to follow the Savior. You must commit to this long JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM.
You will be faced with opposition all along the way form those who don’t want you to go there.
What am I talking about?
Notice in verse 53 that the Samaritans “did not receive Jesus because His face was set for the JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM.”
Jesus faced rejection but refused to give up. He had resolve, but He freely gave of Himself. The rejection never stopped Him.
The disciples became excited to see Jesus JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM. They thought this was it. Jesus would finally go and liberate all of God’s people from the tyranny of the Roman Government and the religious Pharisees. They had been waiting for this moment of victory.
The disciples wanted Jesus to get radical and go and overthrow the government.
But that wasn’t what Jesus would do.
Jesus had determination that He would not waiver or be distracted from where He was going or what He was doing.
Jesus knew what He was doing.
Jesus knew He had to go to Calvary and die on the cross for our sins. Jesus had a DIVINE DESTINY. A DIVINE APPOINTMENT to take on the sins of the world.
This JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM was a JOURNEY TO THE CROSS OF CALVARY.
My friend you have a DIVINE DESTINY.
Your heart should be pointed towards Jerusalem, and your eyes should be set on the Cross of Calvary.
There can be nothing that will ever distract you from going there.
We cannot waiver with what the Lord has given us. We cannot falter or change from what He has told us to do, or where He is sending us.
No one could have stopped Jesus. Likewise, we must be steadfast and faithful to ourselves and to where the Lord is taking us.
If you are faithful to the call of God, nothing and nobody will ever take your eyes off of where you are going.
No one will ever stop you!
It is not just a matter of I can’t give up. Rather, it is I won’t give up.
Because of the cross we will see:
· Jesus conquer sin in this town.
· Jesus rescue souls.
· The captive set free from alcohol, drugs, pornography, obsenity, lethargy and complacency.
· The blind and the lame healed.
· The lives of families restored and the sick and elderly have hope for a better tomorrow.
Close:
Question: Why is it that so many folks have a hard time following Jesus?
Why is sometimes difficult to be steadfast and faithful to the Lord?
Any of us can make the mistake of getting side tracked from where the Lord is taking us.
You may not:
· Have the fire for the Lord you once had.
· Be living your life for the Lord like you need to.
I can assure you I know what you are going through.
There have been times when I failed the Lord by not doing what He had originally called me to do.
I have had my fire for God flicker down to not much more than a pile of ashes.
I may have failed God, but He has never once failed me! Listen.
Our DESTINY was determined long ago.
Ephesians 1:4-5
4 …He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself…
You see there is no other destiny for you but the Lord.
There is no where else to go, but to GO TO JERUSALEM.
