Tree Climber

Sermon at Beecher Island Sunday School

Luke 19:1-10

by Hunter Irvine

Luke 19:1-10 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.  A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
   When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately.  I must stay at your house today.”  So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
   All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’”
   But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord!  Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
   Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (NIV).

+   Jewish tax collectors were considered “sinners,” by fellow Israelites, for good reason:
First - Roman taxing was crooked.
People in conquered territories who were not citizens were heavily taxed, whereas citizens in Rome were hardly taxed.  It was oppressive.
Second – The Roman government supported false gods.
They worshiped the many false gods, and Roman Emperor worship was even added in at times.  Though the Empire let the Jewish people worship at the Temple in Jerusalem, there was tension.
Thus Jewish tax collectors were simply considered traitors.

Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus.  His enthusiasm was so great that he ran ahead of the crowd and then climbed a tree!
I think Jesus liked that enthusiasm!  Jesus invited Himself to his home as a guest, and Zacchaeus was all for it.

Then Zacchaeus has a radical conversion.  
First he calls Jesus “Lord.”
Second he tells Jesus that he will give away half of his possessions to the poor.

Jesus knew this was more than merely excitement.  Jesus knew the faith of Zacchaeus in his heart, and Jesus declared salvation for a man who had been lost.

~   The point of this passage is that Zacchaeus turned to Jesus and gained salvation from Jesus!

+   The personal message for us is that anyone can turn to Jesus and gain salvation from Jesus!
Salvation is the mission of Jesus the Messiah!

 Two points I really want to make here:
In the conclusion of the book of Acts, Paul is teaching Jewish leaders in Rome.  There is division among the Jewish people regarding the Christian teaching of Paul.  Paul ends up telling the leaders of the Jewish people in Rome that they are not listening to the truth of God, and that he will preach to the Gentiles.
However, other apostles of Jesus still continued to reach out to the Jewish people at the same time in other countries.
The Gospel is for every person of every ethnic group on the planet, and that always includes the Jewish people whom He loves.
I personally have had friends who were Jewish Christians.

Secondly, salvation does not come from an act like giving away your possessions.  Recall the rich young ruler whom Jesus said needed to give away everything, whereas Zacchaeus said he was only going to give away half of his possessions.
The act is not the issue in salvation.  The act is a result of a changed heart.
Opening your heart to Jesus is what is needed for salvation.  Zacchaeus did!

My dear friend Walt comes to mind, because Walt liked to climb trees.  Walt and I met the first day during freshman orientation at Virginia Tech, and we have been lifelong friends.
After graduating, I was at his parent’s house in Maryland visiting one summer for two days, and his mom showed me some large trees in their backyard which Walt had climbed in his youth.  They were huge trees.  Walt said he could see all around the neighborhood from up there.
And I saw Walt climb a huge tree once when he was a graduate student.
   Walt simply enjoyed getting above the neighborhood and being able to see all around.  He was fearless about climbing those trees.

When we were studying at Virginia Tech, Walt was invited by a person in one of his classes to attend a Sunday worship service carried out by CRU which took place in a large classroom at Virginia Tech.  Walt accepted.
Then Walt started attending every Sunday.  Soon thereafter, one night, he knelt by the edge of his bed and believed in Jesus as his Savior and Lord.

He is now a special Christian man.
When I was doing college ministry in Ithaca, Walt opened his home to me.  How generous to allow me to stay with his family for over a year in his home.  That is one example of the type of person Walt is today.

   Jesus Christ saved Zacchaeus, He saved Walt, and He saved me.  And Jesus can save you!  Jesus died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the sacrifice for the wages of sin, which is spiritual death.  If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you will have eternal life with Jesus!

+   If you are not in a loving relationship with the Messiah Jesus, I invite you to give your heart to Him today.  Some hardships will continue.  Yet you will have blessings from God.  Jesus is revealed for us in the Scriptures, and you can believe in Jesus right here and now.  Jesus loves you!

God in the Flesh

Sermon at Beecher Island Sunday School

Acts 14: 8-18

9/30/18

by Hunter Irvine

+ Open in prayer.

= Acts 14: 8-18 reading by Howard

+   Paul heals a man who had never walked.
Notice how the man “jumps up!”  He really did have faith.  He had never walked, yet once healed he jumps up, I speculate with excitement and joy!

The response of the people in that town of Lystra was to think Barnabas and Paul were gods in human form.
They called Barnabas – Zeus, and they called Paul – Hermes.

Folks in the town realized a miracle had taken place, so they assume it was the work of the gods of that culture.
They quickly think Barnabas and Paul are gods.

Notice a priest of Zeus brings bulls and wreaths to sacrifice to Barnabas and Paul.  This is key!

First, as we learned in Sunday school, every four years the Greeks had the Olympiad, the Ancient Olympics, which at the core was a religious festival to Zeus.  During the Olympiad, they would sacrifice 100 bulls to Zeus, since he was not only a god, but a king of the gods.

Then they would give wreaths to the athletes who won events, which was symbolic that winners were a favorite of Zeus.  They believed those who gained victory were favorites of Zeus.

Thus by bringing bulls and wreaths, that combination, to Barnabas and Paul, it was a conviction by that priest of Zeus that Barnabas and Paul were gods in human bodies.

~   But Barnabas and Paul were not gods in human form.
And Zeus and Hermes were false gods!

+    The truth is, Jesus of Nazareth, He was fully God, and He was fully human!

He did not simply come down from heaven and slip in a body like slipping into a shell.  He was born a human baby, and could experience all of the emotions, feelings, and limitations which us human beings experience.

Jesus truly was God in the flesh!  He was God incarnate.

In my youth, I was not a Christian, but I knew about Zeus.
I knew about Zeus since I was taught about the Greek philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle at my high school, Falls Church High School, in my Humanities class.  (I was also taught some about those philosophers at Virginia Tech and CCU.)

I remember Socrates and Plato talking about the god Zeus, and others.

But in studying those philosophers at Falls Church High School during my lunch hour, I did not have love.
Those false gods offered no love!
What a struggling high school young man needed was love!

My fourth year at Colorado Christian University, I took “Contemporary Youth Problems,” which was basically an adolescent counseling class where we learned details about youth struggles, and then learned methods for counseling.
During one class session near the end of the semester, the topic was depression in adolescents.  The professor explained that a high percentage of high school students suffer from depression, he elaborated on the subject, and then he was giving some steps for recovery.
In that class was a really mature woman who had much respect from her fellow classmates and the professor.  I vividly recall how in the midst of the discussion that mature woman told the professor about how she had suffered from severe depression in high school.  Professor Koerper asked her, “How did you get over it?”
There were a few seconds of total silence.
Then the woman said, with utter conviction, “Jesus.”

That was a great day for me at CCU, because that young woman blessed me with her testimony.  I was reminded that I needed the love of Jesus when I was at Falls Church High School.  Not having such, even though I was able to progress from high school in various manners, deep in my heart I still had hurts from high school which needed healing.  Such healing resulted after I gave my heart to Jesus in 1990.  And even now where I am blessed with the love of Jesus, I still need to rely on Him daily.
Gaining His love has resulted in salvation, and blessings which can be known on my journey in this world in the midst of smooth days and rough days by relying on the One who still loves me.

+   If you are not in a relationship with the living God, I invite you to open your heart to Jesus.
Jesus loves everyone.  There are no favorites with Jesus.
Jesus loves all people.
You can be in a relationship with Jesus if you believe in Him.
I warn you ahead of time there will be some suffering.
Yet receiving the love of Jesus results in goodness, and it results in eternal life with the living God.

Jesus, who was fully God and fully human, gave Himself as a sacrifice on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of people.  Jesus was the atoning sacrifice for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death.  Then He was resurrected.

Joy in Christ

Beecher Island Sunday School Sermon

August 5, 2018

Acts 1: 4-11

by Hunter Irvine

+ Open in prayer.

= Acts 1: 4-11 reading by Zach

+   In Sunday school, we learned we can be joyful that Jesus died for our sins.

     We can be joyful that Jesus was resurrected!

     And we learned the apostles were joyful after seeing Jesus ascend into heaven, as is recorded at the conclusion of the book of Luke.

   The ascension of Jesus is a Biblical doctrine preserved in the Nicene Creed.  However, I hardly hear Christians talk about it, and I do not remember ever hearing a sermon on the topic.  For me, the event raises a big question:

If Jesus loves us, why did He leave?

He was only with people for 33 years.

Think of all the time of human history, and yet God was with humanity for only 33 years.  That does not seem very loving.

After Jesus was resurrected, Luke states He remained in the world interacting with people for 40 days.  But then after 40 days came the ascension.

If you love someone, you do not want to leave them.

And if you love someone and they leave, you are sad.

   Five years ago, I started teaching Bible in Appalachia.  I was thinking about this the other day, because I arrived at the small Christian school on August 1st, only a few days before school started.  Leaving Denver was one of the hardest things I have ever done, because there are people in Denver whom I love.  I am like an uncle to two kids, and I was heartbroken I had to leave them.  As much as I wanted to teach Bible, it was one of the hardest times of my life.

Then when I returned to Denver two years later, there was much joy.  The first thing I did with those two kids I love so much was head out on one of those boats you peddle with your feet.  I had never done that before, and it was an ideal day to be outside in Denver, yet it was a truly joyful day for me for the one reason that I was back with my two buddies.

   Why did Jesus leave us alone?  As a follower of Jesus I have always had His word, yet He has not been on earth in the flesh to look in the eyes.

   My Dad is a special man, and he attends a special church in Virginia, where he has been a member ever since he turned to Christ, being influenced for Christ at that church.

One Sunday, he was going down the Sunday school hall, and he saw a group of young children coming towards him.  They were young, around three years old, and they were carrying a blanket which had a baby doll on it.  The teacher for the children was standing a bit behind them.  These cute little kids approached my dad and asked, “Have you seen Jesus?  We are looking for Jesus!”

My dad responded, “Well I have not seen Him today.  What is going on?”

“This person cannot walk.  We need to find Jesus because He can help this person walk!  We want him to walk.”

Dad said, “You are correct; Jesus can make him walk.  You keep looking, and I am sure that you will find Jesus.”

“Yes, we are going to keep looking.  We are not going to stop looking.  We want this person to walk.”

And away the little band of young children went down the hall.

It is not only children looking for Jesus.  There have been times in my life when circumstances were so crummy that I wanted to see Jesus in the flesh.

Yet His ascension into heaven was not a desertion.

+ Carefully reading the text, we learn that Jesus did not leave us alone!

   After Jesus left, He baptized His disciples with the Holy Spirit.

= John 1:33 “I [John the Baptist] would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’  I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”

   We Christians believe in the triune God, who is three Persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  He is three Persons being One.  Thus the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, thus Christ remains with a believer in the most personal of ways.

   When a person believes in Jesus, she or he has been cleansed of sin because of Christ’s atonement, and she or he is justified before God (Romans 5:1).  Thus that person is baptized with the Spirit of Christ, who indwells a person’s heart.

Paul stated in I Corinthians 3:16, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”

   Thus begins “sanctification,” being made more like Jesus, who is holy.  The Holy Spirit works to improve the heart of a person.

The Holy Spirit enables us to become more like Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is the One who can enable us to live in communion with God every single day!!!

The Holy Spirit indwells every believer at every minute. He is not only with you when in church.  The Holy Spirit is with you every minute of every day!

   The Holy Spirit enables us to continue to seek forgiveness, recognizing our wrong doings and relying on Him to do what is good.

The Holy Spirit enables us to forgive!

My parents are divorced, and one of the toughest things I ever did was forgive my parents.  I was enabled by the Holy Spirit.

   The Holy Spirit helps us to interpret Scripture.

When I served in my first ministry position in Grand Junction, Colorado, many years ago, I read a book where the person emphasized how critical it is to have the Holy Spirit assist you when you are working to interpret Scripture.  Knowing that and living according has been a key to my Bible studying all these years.

   Really and truly, Christianity is a relationship with God.  We cannot see the Holy Spirit, which is the hard part, especially when circumstances are crummy.  Yet He is there for the person who is willing to open up to Him.

God the Holy Spirit is with us!  Joy can result!!

Fellowship with the Holy Spirit brings joy!

   I add we can be joyful Jesus is going to return!!

Sometime after I got started writing the sermon for this passage, I realized it would be too much for me to cover both the Holy Spirit and the Second Coming of Christ in a single sermon.  I will give a teaching on the later another day.

Yet I proclaim here, Jesus is coming back!

One day we will be with our heavenly Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, in full!!!  That is a continued reason to have joy.

+ Invitation:   If you do not know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you can today.  I invite you to receive Christ now.

He did ascend into heaven.

He is on His throne in heaven.

Jesus will come again!

Jesus died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the substitute for the wages of sins, which is spiritual death.  Then He was resurrected.  If you believe in Jesus, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and you will have eternal life in Christ.

Believe in Jesus!

Beecher Island Sunday School Sermon

July 1, 2018

Acts 16: 22-34

by Hunter Irvine

+ Open in prayer.

= Acts 16: 22-34 reading by Johanna

+   Last month we learned about Peter being put into prison.  Now we have Paul and Silas put into prison.  Different circumstances.  A different place; Paul and Silas were in Philippi.  However, they were all put in for the same reason.  They were all preaching the Gospel and doing ministry work by the power of Jesus Christ.

Here, Paul frees a young lady in the name of Jesus from a bad spirit.  She was a slave, and her owners had been using her to make money.  Her owners became irate they would no longer be able to make money from her, and they come up with accusations against Paul and Silas.

The result is Paul and Silas are beat really bad.
Then they are thrown in prison.
They are even put in stocks.

During my youth, my parents rarely took a family vacation, other than an annual trip to Ocean City, Maryland.  Yet there were a few other trips, including a memorable vacation to Williamsburg, Virginia.  I thought Williamsburg was so cool.  People dressed in colonial attire carry out jobs which were done back in the 1700’s.  For example, there was a woman making candles and man making bricks.  In the governor’s mansion, there was a violin trio, playing music from the 1700’s.  As a kid, Williamsburg increased my interest in history.
Numerous red brick colonial buildings are restored, and that includes the jail.  In front of the jail are the stockades, where people were locked in for a period of time for public humiliation.  You can put yourself in the stocks, without being locked in of course.  There are pieces of wood on a sliding track with holes for a head and hands.  You lift it up and put your head in, and then put it down.  There is no way a person could break out of it if it was locked.  My parents took a picture.  I always like that picture.
   They also had a similar contraption for your feet.
   Paul and Silas were in stocks.  Whatever type of stocks they had there in Philippi, the odds of getting out was probably zero.

   Even though Paul and Silas were beat really bad and are in prison, they are singing hymns to God!
Being in pain, being in a pitch dark jail, they still have hope.
Note other prisoners were listening to them.  They were being a witness of hope to other prisoners.

Then came an earthquake.  Natural disasters are a part of this fallen world.  However, this was a unique earthquake from God I think.  The chains came loose for all of the prisoners, and the stocks were opened.  Normally in an earthquake, a person's fragile flesh would get hurt in an earthquake.  Yet chains fall off.  Also, the doors flew open all at the same time.

Yet Paul, Silas, and the other prisoners did not make a run for it.
The earthquake wakes up the jailer, and when he sees the prison doors open, he thinks the prisoners escaped, so he is going to commit suicide, because he knows he would be executed for allowing the prisoners to get away.
Back a few chapters in the passage of Acts where God freed Peter from prison, the next day an investigation was done regarding how Peter escaped, and of course no one could figure it out.  The result was that Herod had all 16 of the Roman soldiers who were guarding Peter executed.  That is what probably would have happened to the jailer there in Philippi, a Roman colony.
Yet Paul shouts out to the jailer they are all still there.  Paul cares about the jailer!

The jailer seems to recognize God was involved in this whole prison event.  Maybe he had even caught wind of the reason they were in prison in the first place.

The jailer asks the ultimate question: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Paul and Silas respond with the ultimate answer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.”

~  +   The message for us is clear: Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved!!!

This verse here in the middle of the church story in Acts, is a pinnacle verse:
“Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved!”

   Do note this passage is not teaching patriarchal salvation or infant baptism.  This passage is teaching salvation is available for all people.  The word of God was told to all the family, and they all believed!

   The first time I ever served here, I told a story about a time my grandma and I went for a drive in the eastern plains.  Grandma was born on a homestead, and raised on that farm.  She was a true farm lady at heart.
   Her family moved to Keenesburg, so she and her sisters could attend Keenesburg High School, and then Grandma went with her Mom on Sundays to the Methodist church in Keenesburg where her mom taught a Sunday school class.  Grandma admired and loved her mom, and Grandma liked going to church with her.  I think a seed was planted at that time.  But Grandma did not enter a personal relationship with Jesus.
   When Grandma was 17, her parents got separated, and she moved with her mom to Denver.  Her mom started running a boarding house, and Grandma got a job at Gates.  She would live in the city of Denver the rest of her life in this world, except for her last year plus when she was in a nursing home in Wheat Ridge.
She married my Grandpa in the late 1930’s.  He was a special guy.  But he had been raised in a denomination he did not agree with, and he veered away from God.  As a result, neither he nor grandma ever went to church, with one exception.  Every Sunday, they would attend the sunrise service on Easter at Red Rocks amphitheater.  But neither had a personal relationship with Jesus.
   After my grandpa died, my grandma was in shock.  She soon moved to Windsor Gardens, a retirement community.  There she was encouraged by a caring woman to attend some clubs, and to attend the community church there.  At that church she heard the preaching of Dr. David Beckman, the best preacher I have ever heard.  At that church, she realized the love and care of the assistant pastor, Dick Chambers.  A man who had never taken a theology class in his life, he was a truly caring man.  With such an influence, at some point, Grandma believed in the Lord Jesus, and she was saved.  She was in her late 70’s!  She still physically died.  Yet she is now in heaven now.

+   Invitation        I give an invitation today, that if you do not know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, all you need to do is believe, and you will be saved.
   To be in an everlasting relationship with Jesus Christ, what you need to do is to truly believe in Jesus, and you will receive the Spirit of Christ in your heart.

Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone.  He was the substitute for the consequence of sins, which is h-ll.  If you believe in Jesus, you will be saved, and you will have eternal life in heaven with our Holy God.

Scripture Love Blog

Overjoyed

Beecher Island Sunday School Sermon

Acts 12: 1-17

by Hunter Irvine

= Acts 12: 1-17 reading by Trevor

+ Open in prayer

+   Peter is led out of prison by an angel of the Lord.  Chains fell, the guards remained sound asleep, and gates opened.
It was a miraculous rescue.  Otherwise Herod probably would have had Peter killed just as he had the apostle James killed.

Peter goes straight to the home of John Mark’s mom.
  Peter is still in danger!
    Peter knocks!

A young lady named Rhoda goes to answer the door.  Rhoda possibly came from a broken family or maybe her father died, thus the reason she was working as a servant there in Jerusalem.  She probably did much cooking and cleaning.

Rhoda is a gutsy young lady, because there so late at night, it could have been soldiers at the door.

At night a person surely would only open the door if he or she recognized the person’s voice.  There was no porch light and no street lights.  Houses usually did not have low windows to be able to look out to see who was there.  Windows, which were open spaces normally to allow ventilation, were often high for safety reasons, and to avoid the smell of garbage in the street.  No kidding, in a Humanities class I had at Virginia Tech, one time the professor talked for a long time during a class on the topic of the placement of windows in ancient houses.  How wild I remember that all these years later.

So Rhoda would have said something like, “Who is it?”  She recognized Peter’s voice.  But instead of opening the door, she is so “overjoyed,” she runs back to the gathering room and tells everyone Peter is at the door.

Reading this after the fact, it is funny.  Of course at the time Peter probably did not think it was funny.

I love Rhoda.  She is so enthusiastic she wants to tell everyone!
They state she is crazy.  Yet she keeps insisting!

Meanwhile Peter keeps banging on the door, and they finally let him in.

~   Rhoda is overjoyed that Peter is alive!

+   The message for us:   We can be overjoyed that Jesus is alive!

God did some incredible miracles during the early period of Christianity to preserve Gospel.  This miracle was one of them.

However, Peter still physically died later on.  Around 64 A.D., Peter was ministering in Rome at the time of the evil emperor Nero.  Peter was murdered along with his wife.  One Christian stated Peter was crucified upside down, since Peter requested to be crucified this way since he did not want to be crucified in the same position as Jesus.

Yet Jesus was resurrected!!

And all those who believe in Jesus are resurrected by Jesus!

+   A week ago, I was driving to the store, and I was paying attention driving because a number of people were driving terribly.  A song came on the radio that I had not heard in a long time.  It was “Walking on Sunshine,” by Katrina and the Waves.  I had not heard that song in a long time.  Every time I hear that song, I think of my friend Kathy Kellogg.
Kathy Kellogg was a woman who was a light for Christ for me when I was a new Christian.  Before I turned to Christ, I started attending the singles group of a church in Virginia.  Kathy was the woman who worked at the welcoming table where they gave out name tags.  After I became a Christian, I became friends with Kathy.
   Kathy studied at BIOLA University, and after graduating she got a job working for a senator in Washington, D.C.  She led a Bible study on Capitol Hill on Tuesdays during the lunch hour.  In that Bible study she brought together people who worked on the Hill who were both die-hard Democrats and die-hard Republicans.
Kathy and I even went on a friend’s date once to a baseball game.  She was one of the most fun people I have ever been around.  She loved to dance.  She danced at the baseball game.  She even danced by the car when we were at a long stoplight.  She was utterly full of life.

   One day I was sitting at my desk at work and I received a call from another friend from our single’s group.  He told me a plane had crashed in Croatia, and that Kathy was on that plane.  Turned out, everyone on the plane died.  Kathy was only 29 years old.
   It was horrible!
   I mourned for Kathy.  Yet as a young Christian, I did not slip into depression or despair.  Instead, I began to realize Kathy Kellogg is dancing in heaven.  I became convicted Kathy is overjoyed now in heaven.
   Pain, suffering, and death are a consistent reality in this world.  After all of the Christian education I have had over 28 years, I still do not know why God allows so much suffering in this world.  Yet for believers in Jesus, one day we will be freed of pain and death, in heaven, thanks to Jesus.

Jesus was the atonement for sins.  He died as the substitute for the consequence of sins.
Jesus was resurrected.  He now reigns in heaven.

Because of Jesus, we can have joy!

+   Invitation If you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, then you will have eternal life with him.  Right here today, you can open your heart, and receive Jesus!

Through Closed Doors

Sermon given at Beecher Island Sunday School

by Pastor Hunter Irvine

5/6/18

Luke 24: 36-43

= Luke 24:36-43 read by Garrett

+ Open in prayer.

+ Following the sudden disappearance of Jesus in Emmaus, He suddenly appears to the apostles and other disciples in Jerusalem.

John 20:19 records this same event, showing the doors were locked!

That is why the disciples thought Jesus was a ghost!

The apostles were “frightened!”

Jesus was not a ghost.

Jesus then invites them to touch Him!

And Jesus even eats some broiled fish!

Yet the nature of Jesus was different.  He went through closed doors.

~ The main point of this passage is Jesus was resurrected both spiritually and physically!

+ The message for us is Jesus was resurrected both spiritually and physically!

When Lazarus was raised from the dead, he came out of the tomb looking a little like a mummy.

Jesus was not a mummy.

The grave clothes of Jesus were left in the tomb.  Peter and John saw those linen clothes.

   * Either Jesus took His grave clothes off, or He went through His grave clothes.

Basic Christianity by John Stott is a classic book.  John Stott explains the original Greek text indicates the linen clothes fell off of Jesus as if the body disappeared.  (Keep in mind 75 pounds of spices were in the strips of linen.)  One key was the head cloth being separate from the other linens.

= John Stott states:

“A glance at these grave clothes proved the reality, and indicated the nature, of the resurrection.  They had been neither touched nor folded nor manipulated by any human being.  They were like a discarded chrysalis from which the butterfly has emerged” (Stott 53-54).

= John Stott continues:

“What then should we have seen, had we been there [in the tomb]?  We should suddenly have noticed that the body had disappeared.  It would have ‘vaporized,’ being transmuted into something new and different and wonderful.  It would have passed through the grave clothes, as it was later to pass through closed doors…” (Stott 53).

After the resurrection of Jesus, He was even able to go through closed doors.  His resurrection has a supernatural element to it.

All of this talk of ghosts and mummies leads to the question: Why does God allow death in the first place?

Romans 6:23   For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone. He was the substitute for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death.  Yet then He was resurrected!  If you believe in Jesus, you will have everlasting life with Him in heaven!

+   Invitation!   You can believe in Jesus this very day!

Scripture Love Blog

Night Hike

Sermon offered at Beecher Island Sunday School

by Hunter Irvine
4/29/18
Luke 24: 13-35

= Luke 24:13-35 reading by Dax

+ Open in prayer.

+   Distraught - these two disciples walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus, and they were distraught because of the death of Jesus, which is shown when they start talking with Jesus.  They both quit walking as if energy was taken from them, and their faces were “downcast.”

   Neither seemed to know Jesus is the Christ.  Instead they called Him a prophet.  However, they had hoped He was the one who would “redeem” Israel.  What they needed to learn is only the Christ can truly redeem Israel, and only the Christ can truly redeem the souls of people.  Jesus does explain this to them, as we talked about in Sunday school.  And I think their misunderstanding is the reason Jesus waited to reveal Himself to them.

Excited!!  When they finally recognize Jesus, they became excited.
   How do we know?  They walked seven more miles in the dark!

First, they had just walked seven miles.  Yet they turned around and walked seven more.

Second, apparently they did not eat dinner.  Jesus revealed Himself to them at the start of the meal.  They must have been hungry after hiking seven miles, even if they were snacking on fig cakes, yet they did not eat dinner.

Third, and most important, it was dark!
When they reached Emmaus earlier, it was “nearly evening.”  Thus their return was at night.  They could not wait for morning; they started walking “at once.”
  Night was never a safe time to travel back then.  Roads in the Roman Empire were under more protection, yet there was still always a risk.  The two disciples were so excited, they returned immediately.

~   The main point of these verses is the two disciples were determined to tell disciples in Jerusalem that Jesus was alive!

+   The personal message for us is we should be determined to tell people: Jesus is alive!

   The two disciples took a risk.  Honestly, that is what I would expect from two people who truly saw Him risen from the dead.
   And since we know Jesus is alive, and since Jesus is our Redeemer, we should be willing to take a risk to tell people of the love of Christ.

   For one school year in 2014 to 2015, I did college ministry work for Awaken Fellowship, a special interdenominational Christian ministry at Ithaca College, in Ithaca, N.Y.  It was hard for me since it was a raise your own support position, yet I do not like asking people for money, so I almost starved.  Plus I was homesick, even though I am an old guy.  Yet I loved those students with all my heart!
And a blessing, and the reason I was able to do that ministry work for one year, was that I was living in the home of my good friend Walt, who has been a friend ever since we studied together at Virginia Tech.  And I became friends with his wife and his cool daughter.
However, I had another challenge only five days after arriving in Ithaca: my car was pronounced dead by a mechanic.  So there I was without a car.
   Our group had our big worship and fellowship time every Friday evening.  When the weather was cold, the kind wife of my friend would drive me to the college.  And someone would always drive me home.
   Yet when the weather was fine, I would walk from my friend’s home where I was staying.  It was at least a forty minute walk through remote woods between his house and the college.  I like walking, so often the walk was truly enjoyable for me.
   The scenic walk was always in the afternoon, until one spring day.  I attended a special ministry event, of which none of the students who usually gave me a ride home were attending.  I had to walk home at night.  Frankly, it was a bit spooky walking through those isolated woods in the dark.  And there had been flooding because of melting snow.  Several times my feet sunk into cold water.  I was so glad to get home that night.  As spooky as that night was, even if I had to do that night over again, I would, because I love those students.
   It was worth the risk!

   Hopefully none of us will have to take any future risky night hikes.  Yet Jesus wants us to be willing to tell people He is alive!
   Risks may be more subtle in this day and age, but the risks are mounting here in the U.S. as the culture is more hostile to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

   We should not be careless; that is not smart.  And the truth always needs to be told in love.  Yet being obedient to Jesus involves risks, even to the point of risking losing a job or a friend.  May we rely on Jesus to take the risk to tell people He is alive!

   Jesus was dead.  Jesus Christ died on a cross for the forgiveness of sins of anyone. He was the substitute for the consequence of sins, which is spiritual death.  Then he was resurrected!  These two guys who had walked to Emmaus saw Him!
If you believe in Jesus, you will have everlasting life with Him in heaven!

+   Invitation!