Sermon- Week after Easter
- As I begin this morning’s message I want to give thanks to those who are sending
their tithes to the treasurer.
- I look back at the first week of Jesus’ resurrection, & think of the stewardship that
was in the middle of the church.
Q- Was there stewardship?
Q- Was there still a body of disciples?
- I think we have evidence that the disciples still banded together before the
resurrection, & after.
- The evidence shows that, while they didn’t fully know where they were going next.
It did show that they were still united like a family, even though they were not of
blood relation.
- Let’s go to the popular place in which the doubting Thomas receives his proof.
- Eight day’s before Jesus appeared to the apostles, & Thomas. It was the day Mary
Magdalene ran to tell Peter & John she saw the risen Lord.
- In the evening of this same day Jesus appeared to the Apostles.
- Let’s read the moment, & note the safety they have together in John 20:19-29
John 20:19-29
19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
23 Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
26 And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Q- Where were the disciples found?
- Together, they were huddled together, because they knew who they could trust.
- The family of God takes on the image of Jesus, that has saved us.
- The image is truth, & with that image the Church becomes the place you feel
your burdens lifted.
- It’s not because of the church itself, but because of Who can be found
within.
- Let’s talk to Him now, & let’s praise Him, for His unchangeable grace.
Prayer
- There’s no greater name to have than one that means you’re trusted.
- One of the things to have rocked the very Foundation of the Church was deceit.
- To be called an apostle of Christ, to many carried the title of trust.
- That wasn’t so with one of them though.
- Jesus even referred to that one Apostle as, a devil in John 6:70.
- We know the name of Judas, because we realize how his distrust cannot be
the picture of the church.
- There’s something I want you to notice about the one Apostle that holds true to
today.
- Jesus revealed to the apostles one of them would betray Him, & immediately they
all began asking, is it me.
- Nobody knew who it could be, that would deceive Jesus.
- Listen, even after Peter, lying against the breast of the Lord, asked who it was.
- He still didn’t grasp what Judas was about to do.
John 13:26-27
26 Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.
- Jesus told Judas, do it quickly.
- The base for my message is grounded on the fact that there will always be wheat
& tares amongst the church.
- So much so, that you cannot recognize which is which.
- This message comes with the pointing of fingers that the world is pointing.
- So many are blaming evangelists who’ve come home from abroad, & churches
who’ve held services during the shutdowns, for the pandemic.
- The doors of our Church have been shut down since the call to shutdown.
Q- Why do we adhere to that call?
- It’s not because we fear a virus more than God.
- We serve a resourceful God. We live in a time that, although the murderer is just
outside our door, we can still reach out to our family, & along the way, we can
bring others with us.
- I am so encouraged that one song we broadcasted for sunrise service reached
over a 1,000 People.
Q- Is there still reason to hold church in the midst of a pandemic?
- Absolutely! There are so many who need the Lord, & there’s no greater time, or
urgency than now.
- Think of the scores of lives that have been lost to this disease.
Q- How many of them went out of this world lost?
- Before we’re quick to judge someone’s actions, we have to evaluate their motives.
- There are some who’s actions are simply for the purpose of sin/lust, but then
there are many’s who’s whole purpose is for Christ.
Q- Can you tell them apart?
- James said in James 4:11-12
James 4:11-12
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
- He was retelling Jesus’ Words of Matthew 7:1
Matthew 7:1
7 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
- He’s also sewing into our hearts that God works wonderfully, & masterfully different
inside each one of us.
- The thing that we have got to come to grips with is, we’re not the author, nor the
architect.
- We are only the instruments, Through which the Lord is going to accomplish
His desire.
- That’s why James had already spoken these words, I’m going to back up to verse 7 of James 4:
James 4:7-10
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
- In this great time of mourning, it is so easy to lash out & blame someone else, or to
judge someone else.
Q- Where should our hearts, & minds be?
- On our Lord. He, & He alone, is the Just Judge, & avenger of our souls.
- He will never fail those, that are His.
- He doesn’t lift every sorrow while we’re alive, but He gives to us the victory,
at the end of the battle.
Q- Who are we?
- We are Christians!
- We are the Children of God, the Bride of Christ.
- We are all that trust that Jesus, The Son of God, died upon the cross as a
payment for the penalties of our sins. We trust that the grave could not hold
Him, because His body did not see corruption, but He arose from the grave, &
ascended to be with the Father, & Because He arose, we too shall one day arise
with Him!
- That’s What the world needs right now, & for anyone who may receive unjust
judgement for doing what God has placed on their heart.
- This isn’t just church!
- It’s making masks, handing out food, praying with others, offering a helping
hand.
- As our actions take flight, accusations will come.
Q- What does the Word of God have to say about that?
1 Peter 4:13
13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
- Let’s rejoice in the Lord’s work, because He’s the One who deserves all the glory.
- Let’s not give up working for the Lord.
Prayer.
