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No claims of absolute originality are made for this material. As one man said, "I milk a lot of cows, but I churn my own butter." Please use these sermons as the Lord leads, but nothing on this site may be used for profit without my expressed, written permission!
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Back To The Future Sermon #5 THE LORD OF GLORY IN HIS MINISTRY Intro: In our last meeting, we considered the message of verses 12-17a. In those verses, Jesus Christ is pictured in
all His glory. In verses 12-16, John depicts The Lord Of Glory In His Majesty. John
attempts to describe the risen, glorified Jesus. As He does, he pictures for us the Jesus we
will see when we arrive home in Heaven. I don’t know about you, but I look
forward to the day when I see Him as He is, because I will be like Him on that
day, Then,
in verse 17a, John shows us The
Lord Of Glory In His Mercy. John
sees Jesus and faints dead away. Jesus,
in grace and mercy, raises up His servant and speaks peace to the heart of
John. What a Savior we have! I praise His name for the times He has
reached down to me and lifted me up in my heart! Folk, where would we be if the Lord never
showed up in our hearts to “whisper sweet peace” to our souls? In
this last section John describes The Lord Of Glory In His Ministry. Having told us about how Jesus appears and
how He encourages His saints; these verses tell us Who Jesus is and What Jesus
does. I. HE
IS THE REIGNING ONE A. “I am the first and the last” – John
is reminded that Jesus is the “Author and Finisher” of all
things. He is the One Who has always
been and the One Who will always be. He
was there in before the beginning and He will be there after the end. Jesus
stands as the great Bookend on either end of history. Kings may come and kings may go, but Jesus
has, is and will reign forever. He is
timeless and He is eternal! B. What we have here
is nothing less that a clear claim of deity by the Lord Jesus. The title “The First and the Last”
is found in the Old Testament three times: Isa.
41:4; 44:6; 48:12. It is a title
that refers to Jehovah God. This title
is used by the Lord Jesus three times in the book of Revelation: 1:17; 2:8; 22:13. He is telling us His people that He is
co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father.
He is reminding us that He is God and that He is in control! ( C. The
people of the Lord need not fear anything can arise in life or death, for Jesus
stands on either end of each and He controls the middle too! Jesus is the hub around which the wheel of time
rotates. He is before all, above all,
under all, around all, and after all. He
is all in all! He is the source and sum
of everything! He is in control of life and nothing happens without His
approval, Rom. 8:28. II. HE
IS THE REDEEMING ONE A. “I am
He that liveth, and was dead” – Jesus died, but His death was like no
other death in the history of the world.
He died, not for Himself, but He died for others. He went to that cross to pay a price He did
not owe; for a people who owed a price they could not pay. He gave His all for those who had nothing to
offer. He paid the whole price to redeem
His people from their sins, Isa. 53:4-6;
( B. He accomplished
through one offering what millions of gallons of animal blood had never been
able, nor would ever be able, to do. He
paid the full redemption price for all those who would call on Him by faith, Heb. 10:10-14; Heb. 9:12; 25-28. ( The
city of Suddenly
a young man had an idea. Taking a young goat belonging to the premises, he
killed it, and then with a broom swept its blood under the door of the house.
Then they waited breathlessly as footsteps approached. Soon the Spaniards were
bartering at the door. Then they heard one of them say "Look
at the blood running under the door. Come away, men, the work here is already
done!" A
little later the army withdrew, allowing a band of thankful people to emerge,
safe and sound. They lived because a goat had died.) C. Hallelujah! It was the blood of a little lamb that caused
the death angel to pass over the children of ( Ushering the preacher into the rear of a
building, the stranger locked the door, put the key in his pocket, and said, “Don't
be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to ask a few questions. Do
you believe what you preached tonight?” Dr. Finney said, "I
most certainly do." The man continued, "We're
in the back of a saloon. I'm sole proprietor. Mothers come in here, lay their
babies on the counter, and beg me not to sell liquor to their husbands. I turn
a deaf ear to their cry. We see to it when a man leaves here he's well under
the influence. More than one night, a man leaving here has been killed by the
express at the tracks. Dr. Finney, tell me, can God forgive a man like me?" Dr Finney replied, "I
have but one authority the Word of God which says, 'The blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin.'" "But that's not all,' added the man.
"In another room we run a gambling hall. If a man doesn't spend all his
money on liquor, we bring him back here and with marked cards see to it that
he's fleeced out of his last dollar we send him home penniless to a hungry family
Dr. Finney, I'm sole owner. Tell me honestly can God forgive a man with a heart
like that?" Again Dr Finney replied, "I
have hut one authority, the Word of God which says, 'The blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin.'" The man spoke again. "That's
not all. Across the street is my home where live my wife and little daughter.
Neither one has had a kind word from me for five years. Their bodies bear marks
of my brutal attacks. Dr Finney, do you think God could forgive a man with a heart
like that?" Dr Finney's head lowered. His eyes filled
with tears as he said, "My friend, you have painted one of the
darkest pictures I have ever gazed on, but I still have one authority which
says, 'The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.'" The man opened the door, ushered the
preacher into the night, and did not leave that room till daybreak. He did not leave until he had ripped up decks
of cards and poured the contents of beer and liquor bottles down the sink.
After he was finished, he locked the saloon and crossed the street, entered his
house and sat down in the living room. His little girl called, “Daddy,
Mother says breakfast is ready." When he answered his little girl
kindly she ran back to her mother, "Daddy spoke kind to me! Something is the
matter!" The mother followed her little girl to the living room.
The man beckoned them both. Taking one on each knee, he explained to their
amazement that they had a new husband and daddy He ended, "I'm
done with that business across the street!" The man later became a
member, then an official in a leading D. The
people of the Lord need not fear sin, Satan or the sentence imposed on sin,
because Jesus defeated the power of sin; the prince of darkness and the He
eliminated the penalty on sin.
Jesus entered death of His Own free will. He stepped into death, and in the moment of
His greatest weakness, He forever conquered all the enemies of the soul! III. HE
IS THE RESURRECTED ONE A. I am
he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen;
- Again, Jesus uses a divine title to describe Himself. He says “I am the Living One.” This title was used by the ancient Jews to
distinguish Jehovah from the false gods of the heathen. They were dead wood, stone and metal; Jehovah
is the self-existent, eternal One! B. Jesus did
something no one else has ever done: He entered death in His Own time and in
His Own way, having accomplished every thing He came to this earth to do and then
He walked out of Death when He was ready, He died on
the cross and then He rose again from the dead, Matt. 28:1-6. Thank God, “He
lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and talks with me along
life’s narrow way. He live! He lives! Salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives, He lives
within my heart!” C. Would you like to
know what the greatest miracle of the redemption story is? The greatest miracle is not that Jesus rose
again from the dead. After all, “The
Living One” would be hard to hold in a tomb. The greatest miracle is that God would enter
humanity; live among men; suffer the agony of the cross and the “taste
death for every men”, Heb. 2:9.
The greatest miracle of the redemption story is God in human flesh “reconciling
the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them”, D. The
people of the Lord need not fear death, for Jesus has conquered it for them. IV. HE IS
THE REMAINING ONE A. I am
alive for evermore – Jesus proclaims Himself to be the One Who will
never taste death again! He lives and He
will live forever! ( B. When every ruler
and every subject has faded from the fabric of the ages; when every rich man
and every poor man has been erased from the memory of time; when every kingdom
and every deed has been forever diluted by the stream of history; Jesus Christ
will still be Lord and He will still be God.
He is the remaining One! Don’t
worry about something happening to Him! When
the dust of time has been swept away into the vast dustbin of eternity, Jesus
will still be the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords! That ought to bring comfort to every child of
God and strike terror into the heart of every demon and sinner. C. The people
of the Lord need not fear life, for Jesus is alive; He is with them and He is
ever taking thought for them. V. HE
IS THE RELEASING ONE A. I…have
the keys of hell and of death – Keys speak of access and
authority. I have keys right here. Because I possess the keys, I have access to
the things connected with the keys.
Because I have those keys, I can go places others are not allowed to
go. The same is true with Jesus! B. Jesus Christ
decides all the issues of life and death.
He determines who lives and who dies. Because Jesus entered death and
conquered it, He possesses the keys of death.
Because He entered the place where the dead reside and walked out again,
He holds the keys of Hell. Jesus
is the Key Man! He is a good Man
to know! The word “hell” in this verse is
the Greek word “hades”. It does not
refer to the place of punishment, but to the realm of the dead. You see, death is the condition and Hell
is the place and Jesus holds the keys to both! Jesus
Christ possesses the keys to every tomb, graveyard and burial place in the
universe. He knows where every body,
every bone, every ash and every bit of dust lies on this earth. One day, Jesus
will open all the graves. His people
will rise again and join Him in His glory, However,
those who have died in their sins will also come out of their graves one day;
but they will face Jesus in judgment, Rev.
20:11-15; Friends, it
pays to know Jesus Christ! He is the Key
Man! Because I know Him, I cannot go to
Hell, He has locked the door! Because I
know Him, I can go to Heaven; He has unlocked the gates of that city for His
children. C. Did you know that
He holds the keys to every grave in the world?
He is able to raise your loved ones from the dead, D. The
people of the Lord need not fear eternity, for Jesus holds the keys of death
and hell. He is in control of
all the issues of life and death. Conc: When Jesus appeared to John on If
you know Jesus, you do not have to fear life, death, sin, Satan, or
eternity. If you know Jesus, you know “the
Prince of Peace”. And the Prince
of Peace can drive away all fear. Maybe
you have some fears you would like for Him to put to rest today. You can bring them to Him and you can find
the help you need, Matt. 11:28;
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Copyright 2003 by Alan Carr |
