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Crucifixion Series: The Seven Last Words Of Jesus From The Cross At Calvary PART 2: Father, Forgive Them....They Don't Know What They Do.......

4/26/2014

Luke 23:32-34:" Father, Forgive Then....They Don't Know What They Do".....
There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."

Crucifixion Series: “The Seven Last Words of Jesus from Calvary’s Cross”:

Part 2: “Father Forgive Them”: They Know Not What They Do”!

This first word, really the first of 7 last statements Jesus would make before He "gives up the ghost" is a loving request from Jesus praying to God the Father to grant forgiveness is given in behalf of a people who didn’t (according to Jesus) know what they were doing.

Luke in this passage described the crucifixion crowd as standing and beholding Jesus as He hung from the cross between 2 condemned criminals with an attitude of indifference along side with the Sanhedrin rulers, the Pharisees in particular, bellowing out verbal derision toward Jesus suffering the pain and agony on a cruel Roman cross. Immediately with this loving request, we come face to face with the Agape love of God, and the forgiveness only God himself can give. Jesus, as he makes this petition to the Father fulfills Isaiah 53:10-12 (NIV) as “ It was the Lord 's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering. He will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied. By his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities”.

From the human perspective, the last thing you would have thought would come from a person’s mouth having gone through the vicious ordeal Jesus went through would be to ask God to forgive the very ones who treated them in the vile and inhumane way our Lord and Savior was treated after his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.

The Biblical record tells us he was made to carry his own cross after experiencing a severe beat down with many stripes from front to back, having a crown of thorns pushed down forcefully on his head, piercing his scalp and brow, and given a purple robe to wear. Yet this is the first thing Jesus said. He offers a prayer in behalf of those he said “knew no what they were doing. Jesus lets us know through Peter in Acts 3:17-18 what they mob was doing was done through ignorance: "Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:8 that, "had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory," Now ignorance does not excuse altogether a crime if the ignorance is "willful ignorance".

Scholars often have debated over the centuries as to who Jesus was referring to, whether he referred to the Romans, the Jews or both. I believe he was speaking of both for the following reasons:

First the obvious. The Romans in general were ignorant of the fact that Jesus was the Son of God. Yet in Matthew 27:54, a centurion is recorded as declaring: “Truly, this must have been the Son of God”. Is there a contradiction? Highly unlikely! There is nothing to suggest that this centurion had any historic knowledge of the Jews’ expectation of a Messiah, and in all likelihood, thus the "euologetic" words he used wasn't used in that sense.

What he did know was on that day upon Calvary's hill where the crucifixion took place, a lot of strange things happened, especially around the 6th hour when all of a sudden, the sky became dark. The phrase: “Son of God”, as the Romans used the term, meant to them the person in question was either “very eminent” or a “Divine person or seen as a hero. But even in this sense, this centurion gave Jesus more “credence” as to his identity than the Jews did who rejected him as Messiah and yet are the chosen people of God. Apparently, the centurion perceived that Jesus was divine based on his demeanor and the veracity of the crowd gathered against him.. John the Baptist echoed the way the Jews saw Jesus and ultimately treated him in John 1:11-13:

"He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God". NKJV

Second, it wasn't that the Romans hadn't heard the rumors the crowds circulated about Jesus. It was their duty to keep the peace of Rome, so they followed the crowds and monitored their movement. This means they heard of his teachings. They monitored his activities.They were aware of the murmuring among the Pharisees and the other religious leaders as Jesus became more popular with the citizens of each city and more in opposition with the teachings of the Pharisees.

Pilate proclaimed that Jerusalem was always the “hot bed” of potential insurrection, but at this point, there was a heavy tension in the air. Also, keep in mind the Jews couldn’t stand the Romans and longed to get rid of their rule over them. The Roman armies were well aware of how the Jews felt about them. And yet despite that, one Centurion could even testify that Jesus showed compassion toward him when he healed his servant, who was sick of the palsy and never set foot in his house when he did it. All it took was just the healing words spoken from Jesus. But in general, the Romans being who they were had a real ignorance of who Jesus really was. The soldiers were simply obeying the edict handed down by Pilate who sign the death warrant, and carried out by their superiors.

On the other hand, the Jews, God’s chosen people, could not make the same claim. They look for centuries for their Messiah. The prophets In the Old Testament declared His coming. God told Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden before he kicked them out that He was coming. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel said He was coming. Hosea, Joel, Amos and Obadiah said He was coming. Jonah Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah said He was coming. Haggai, Zachariah, even Malachi said the Messiah is coming. Here they were, the people who Isaiah told us had great expectation and walked in darkness, but now have seen a great light. The same people who John the Baptist loudly declared to “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand”, telling them concerning Jesus: Behold, the Lamb of God who come to take away the sin of the world.

Now here they are, “by-standing” at the cross, watching in rejection, the very one who they were searching for, yet not realizing that their Messiah is hanging on the cross right before them. In their hearts, they had to know that Jesus was "innocent". Jesus had given them a multitude of miracles and clear teachings on the Scriptures that proved as Nicodemus said: that he was a man sent from God. They had conclusive evidence. All they had to do would is look at it and they would have realized that Jesus was their Messiah. They even asked among themselves: Could this be the Messiah we have been looking for? But, as it stood, as Jesus said, they didn’t know what they were doing.

If they had known., they would not have crucified him, as we cannot suppose that they would knowingly put to death their own Messiah, the hope of the nation, and him who had been so long promised to the fathers.

What can we learn from the love and passion expressed by Jesus when he made this prayer request to the Father?

1. If we truly love God with our all, and also love our neighbor as we love ourselves, then we quickly realize that we have obligation to pray for our enemies, no matter what they did to us and the lingering emotional harm it may have left us dealing with. We must pray that God would change their heart and the way they think because when we are harmed, they are as Jesus said also harming him.

2. When we pray, we should forgive them and pray that God also would forgive them.

3. We need to learn about the power and excellence of the Christian religion. There is no other known religion that "teaches" its followers to pray for the forgiveness of their enemies; or compels them to do so. In general, men of the world when wronged seek for "revenge. Christian learn to bear every reproach and persecution with patience, then prays that God would both pardon those who did them wrong, and save them from their sins.

4. Any sinner because of Jesus making intercession may be forgiven. God will hear a sinner’s prayer and will pardon the offense. Many who were converted after the death of Jesus Christ through the preaching of the Gospel by the Apostles.

Dr. William Edward Boddie

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Crucifixion Series: "The Seven Last Words From Jesus From Calvary"s Cross" Part 1: "Feeling Forsaken"

4/19/2014

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Matthew 27:45-46: "Feeling Forsaken"

Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"*

Crucifixion Series: “The Seven Last Words From Jesus” Part 1: “Feeling Forsaken”

Introduction:
What was happening at this solemn moment of anguish and revelry was a far cry from what had taken place only 5 days ago. 5 days ago in the midst of a grand and ‘triumphant” entry into Jerusalem from the main street outside the main gate a jubilant crowd had cried out Hosanna, Hosanna; Blessed art thou the Son of David…Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord…Hosanna in the highest!…The euphoric crowd made this joyful cry to Jesus, who had ridden into Jerusalem on the foal of an Ass. They believed him to be their Messiah and now in a strong sign of support and filled with new vistas of victorious hope, herald him as their king, believing that Jesus was about to take over the government and finally get the cruel Roman government off their necks and restore Israel back to a place of prominence and power.
Here they were, paying him a “royal homage,” fit for a conquering king as they took off their coats and literally lined the street with them and for those who didn’t have a coat to lay in the street, took palm branches and laid them along with the coats in the street. The air was full of the cry of jubilation. Euphoria was in the air, because their “Shiloh” has come. But now as we fast forward to what we have come to know as “Good Friday”, many of the same people, who were part of the “Hosanna” coat and palm branch honor crowd have tragically switch allegiance. Somewhere between Palm Sunday early Friday morning, they realized the kingdom that Jesus spoke (the Kingdom of Heaven) was not a kingdom of this world.

Now, all of those joyful “Hosannas are being replaced with words of savage cruelty, derision and disdain….Now, instead of bowing down in submissive honor, or lifting up holy hands of praise, they are wagging their heads and blaspheming with their mouths…..crying “crucify him, crucify him… spitting at him, deriding him. You who said you will destroy the temple and in 3 days build it back up again…save yourself!....saying other things like saying if you be the Son of God, come down off the cross and we will believe in you. Jesus, before he laid down his life on the cross would speak 7 times, making 7 declaration statements that would have epic significance to us in life in terms of how we should personally relate to God and how we should conduct our lives as followers of Christ. Let’s examine this statement Jesus made while hanging on the cross.

“Feeling Forsaken by God the Father”

In Matthew 27:46, the Bible said: And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"*

By the time we get to the 45th verse of Chapter 27 of Matthew, it was about the 6th hour (high noon), but you couldn’t tell it by the demeanor of the sky. The sky has lodged its response to the cruelty of this moment and the crucifixion of the Son of God, The next 3 hours would be the time that the elements of the sky would use for mourning. … There will be a protest from the sun. The sun will pull down its cosmic light shades and drape the shy in darkness and the sun…the s-u-n will refuse to shine while the Son of God is dying…The moon will need medical attention, because the moon will get so upset, it will begin to hemorrhage, and drip away in blood, And, though nailed to a Roman made cross…a cross that’s a sign and symbol of cruelty and capital punishment, a quiet but agonizing Jesus up to this point hasn’t said a mumbling word. But as it gets nearer to the 9th hour, that final hour of mortality, all of a sudden, Jesus breaks his silence and cries out in a loud and anguished voice: Eli…Eli..lama sabachthani…which is translated: My God…My God…why have you forsaken me? Really? Jesus feeling forsaken?

These words, the words Jesus had just spoken were words quoted from Psalms 22:1. This statement is of great importance. Jesus not only quoted from this Psalm, but in their deriding him, the Pharisees in the crucifixion crowd spoke a quotation from another part of this same Psalm. The question is: Did God the Father really forsake Jesus, His Son? Now, there are scholars past and present would attempt to make you think so. The truth is, the Father didn’t forsake him and the plan of salvation/redemption was not threatened in any way. The world needed a savior and “sin” needed an “Atoner.” One of the writers from Barnes Note Commentary made the following statement: “Take deity away from any redeeming act of Jesus Christ and redemption is ruined.” Isaiah 53:10 (Amplified Version) puts it this way: “Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief and made Him sick. When You and He make His life an offering for sin [and He has risen from the dead, in time to come], He shall see His [spiritual] offspring, He shall prolong His days, and the will and pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.

The Expression: MY God…My God…What does it really mean?
The expression: My God…My God in this context expresses “intense suffering”. Jesus was, according to Isaiah Chapter 53 a “suffering” servant. Boy, did he suffer! Remember, before being nailed to the cross, Jesus was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane by a kiss from Judas, then arrested, and marched from Pilate’s judgment hall to Herod’s judgment hall and then finally back to Pilate’s again. In that melee, Jesus was pushed, harassed, punched, kicked, scourged with whips, sticks, put on a purple robe, a crown of thorns pushed down viciously upon his head and verbally abused by the Roman soldiers who executed the onslaught. Both God the father and Jesus knew before the foundation of the world that the Lamb of God (Jesus) was to be slain and the perfect sacrifice and “blood” payment for the Sin of Man. Both knew that Jesus would bear all of our grief.

Isaiah 53:1-10 gives us a great summation of what Jesus was to encounter:
“ He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him. Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy]. (Matthew 8:17.) But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has made to light upon Him the guilt and iniquity of us all. (1 Peter 2:24,25.) He was oppressed, [yet when] He was afflicted, He was submissive and opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who among them considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living [stricken to His death] for the transgression of my [Isaiah's] people, to whom the stroke was due?

And they assigned Him a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. (Matthew 27:57-60; 1 Peter 2:22,23.) Some have said it has been difficult to understand in what sense Jesus was "forsaken by God."   But not really! There is no doubt that God “approved” his work and approved of His work. After all, Jesus is HIS beloved Son, in whom HE is well pleased! Here are the facts:

2nd Corinthians 5:21 (Amplified Version) tells us:

“ For our sake He made Christ (virtually) to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become (uendued with, viewed as being in, and examples of) the righteousness of God (what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness). Truthfully, Jesus knew no sin. He became sin for us. He was never sinner, never committed a sin and was not like man born in sin and shaped in iniquity. Jesus was completely innocent! He had done nothing to forfeit the favor of God. Jesus was still holy, harmless, undefiled, and completely obedient. God still loved him. In either of these senses God could not have forsaken him.

The feeling of being forsaken by God the Father in my opinion and the opinion of many other scholars speaks to what was going on in the mind of Jesus in his humanity. Consider the following real scenarios from our human perspective:

Physically, considering the tremendous physical beating Jesus took from the soldiers before the cross and on the way to the Hill of the Skull (Calvary), coupled with the verbal abuse he endured along the scourging process, it would be natural for anyone who was dependent of God to carry them through a grueling ordeal like this to desire to feel his presence as an assurance that they were not going through it by themselves.

In a time like this, any person experiencing this type of suffering and extreme anguish who can’t feel the spiritual presence of God might ask God if he had forsaken them. But remember, the cross was to method that Jesus submitted to in order to condemned and “crucified sin” “in the flesh” that we through our confession and acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Messiah (Savior) and the “finished work” done on the cross in the redemptive process might be made the righteousness of God through Salvation. God hates sin and Jesus at this time was bearing the Sin of man all over the whole world. A song writer puts it best here: “How can I live in sin and feel my Savior’s love. No Jesus did not live in sin, but because he was bearing all of our sin” from a spiritual perspective, the presence of Our Sin laid upon him possible put the same barrier between him and God (again, all part of the redemption process) as it did in our flesh when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden and we disobey HIM now in our daily living outside of Jesus Christ. I believe Jesus felt the same barrier we feel when we are not in right relationship with Him because of our un-confessed sin and grieving of the Holy Spirit.

In Luke 22:52-53, Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs?   When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."

It was the time when God allowed his enemies, including the Jews and Satan to do their utmost. This is the fulfillment of what God prophesied to Adam and Eve concerning the “enmity relationship” between the ‘seed” of the woman and the serpent. Here, God said that the “SEED” (Jesus) would bruise the serpent’s head and the serpent (Satan) should bruise his heel. The Common understanding of that prophesy meant that, though the Messiah would finally crush and destroy the power of Satan (Revelation 20: 1-10), yet he should himself suffer (during the time of His earthly ministry in fulfillment of the Redemption mission) "through the power of the devil." When he was tempted in Luke 4:1-13, the Bible (New King James Version) said after Satan tempted Christ, the tempter "departed from him for a season for a more opportune time."

In various times throughout the ministry of Jesus Christ, Satan randomly reared his ugly head in various people in an attempt to trap and kill Jesus, but failed in every attempt until the time when God would allow it to done to fruition. This lets us know that no matter the life circumstance, God is in complete control of every event and has an ultimate plan for all who are willing to trust HIM with their very lives through Jesus Christ. God permitted Satan to return at the time of Jesus’ death to exercise his power to increasing the sufferings of the Lord Jesus in his human form. In what way this might have been done can be only conjectured. It might have been by horrid thoughts; by temptation to despair, or to distrust God, who thus permitted his innocent Son to suffer; or by an increased horror of the pains of dying but whatever the case, Jesus felt a separation.

According to Barnes Notes’ Commentary, God the Father may have withheld those strong religious consolations, that is, those strong clear views of both the justice and goodness of which would have blunted his pains and soothed his agonies.
Remember when Jesus left heaven in his glorified state, he emptied himself of some of his attributes in order to fulfill the mission of “Redemption and Salvation”. So by design, in order to feel the pains of life in the same manner as we do, Jesus laid down those godly attributes that would hinder him experiencing these things we as human beings feel in the course of our lives.
It has been said that Martyrs, under the influence of strong religious feeling, have gone triumphantly to the stake, but this group of scholars contend that it is possible that those views might have been withheld from the Redeemer when he came to die. Quote: “His sufferings were “accumulated sufferings”, and the design of the atonement seemed to require that he should suffer all that human nature "could be made to endure" in so short a time. Again Isaiah 53:4 (Amplified Version) reminds us: “ Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God” [as if with leprosy].

Finally, He Said This In Our Behalf:
When you consider that Jesus was dying on this cross not for anything that he had done wrong, but out of love God has for a fallen race that was originally made in the image and likeness of God. John 3:16-17 tells us just how much God loves us:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved”.
And then consider what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 5:8-11:
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation”.
And last , but not least what is said in 2 Corinthians 5:21:
“For our sake He made Christ [virtually] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in and through Him we might become [uendued with, viewed as being in, and examples of] the righteousness of God [what we ought to be, approved and acceptable and in right relationship with Him, by His goodness] we have reason to think that there was still a much deeper reason why Jesus said this exclamation. The truth is Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law, by being made a curse for us. He was made a sin-offering ( a living sacrifice) because he died in our place, and on OUR account, that he might bring us near to God. It was this, doubtless, which caused his intense sufferings. It was the manifestation of God's hatred of sin, in some way which he has not explained, that he experienced in that dread hour. It was suffering endured by HIM that was due to US, and suffering by which, and by which alone, we can be saved from eternal death.
Conclusion:
So what can we take from this first saying? Sin causes an awful barrier between God and us. When anyone chooses to live a sinful life, it is very hard to feel the presence of God. At a certain point, your conscience will become seared like a hot iron. You will become very insensitive and tend to make excuses for your sinful actions, not realizing that in the hardness of your heart, you are really unaware of be what that sin(s) is doing to you. The longer you remain in a rebellious state, the easier it will be for the Devil to convince you that you are better off doing our own thing and taking control of your own situation because, as he wants you to believe, God has forsaken you, a belief that is far from the real truth.
The truth is God has never forsaken anyone, the “forsaking” came from us. After a while, the Devil will have you so convinced that God doesn’t love you and even if he does, you are beyond saving. For the child of God who lives in carnality, at a certain point your sin will overtake you and you will began to completely fall away from living according to the will and way of God and find yourself in a worse state than you were originally in when God saved you the first time. But, there is still hope.
God said in 2 Chronicles 7:14:” If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways; then shall they hear from heaven, and I will come and forgive their sin, and I will heal their land”. The “Amplified “Version of the Bible put it this way: “If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land”. So know of a certain that no matter how hard the trial or the persecution the child of God finds themselves dealing with, God never has and never will abandon you in your hour of trial. Hold on ole soldier. Hang on in there. Help is on the way! Remember these words of comfort and encouragement Jesus gave the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:10
“Fear none of those things which you shall suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried; and you shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

Dr. William Edward Boddie

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Sunday Sermon: Philippians 1:27-30: "Living In Troubled Times"

4/1/2014

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Philippians 1:27-30: "Living in Troubled Times"
"Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.

"Living in “TROUBLED TIMES”

Introduction: Paul's Purpose For Writing this Letter:
The text for today opens our eyes to a dedicated pastor writing to the concerns and fears of one of the designated congregations the Lord gave him charge over….Apostle Paul…despite his judicial situation wrote from a Roman jail to the Philippian church… to give them words of comfort because they were a picked on troubled church. The Philippian church located in Caesarea Philippi…the city monikered with the "tag" as the “Chief city" was suffering persecution on every hand.

According to Acts 16…Paul organized this church because, he had a “night” vision that came from the Holy Ghost during his 2nd missionary journey… Paul was shown a man from Macedonia in a vision…The man was praying and begging him to come there and help them in Macedonia…. Now…it might not look like it…but this world is hungry for the living bread….Jesus said that the fields are white…ready for the harvest….So…the Bible said…Immediately, Paul set sail from Troas to a seaport in Neapois,… located in the eastern most part of Macedonia…From there…Paul found the main road…called the Egnatian Way and travelled it into Macedonia..

"Historic Review: The "Firsts" of the Philippian Church"
By the way…the Philippian Church is believed to be the first church to be founded on European soil…..What we glean from the bible is… many people in Philippi got salvation and deliverance because Paul preached Jesus Christ.., and preached HIM crucified….buried….resurrected….ascended…and soon to come back …descending with a shout….the voice of an archangel with the trump of God..Like I said….many got saved in Philippi…

There was Lydia, a merchant and seller of purple… who was the first European convert saved by hearing the gospel. Also, in Philippi…Paul was privileged to cast out a lying spirit in a slave girl was practiced divination and fortune telling. Now before the change…she made her masters a lot of money by prophesying and prophet-lying …but when God used Paul to cast out that spirit of divination in the slave girl…it bankrupted her master’s get rich quick scheme and got the slave girl kicked to the curb…And you know how crooked folk start acting when God breaks up their money making schemes…they got to blame somebody… So they blamed both for Paul and Silas and sought to cause trouble for them…The next thing Paul knew….

Trouble for Paul and Silas: "Arrested and Jailed"

Paul and Silas got arrested …brought before Roman magistrates… then they were thrown in jail…The record says… her mad masters pressed criminal charges against them in the marketplace…They accused them in the public but didn’t even realize …that what they accused them of in their public complaint …actually paid Paul and Silas the highest compliment they could have ever been paid….The slave masters said: Your honor: “THESE MEN are troublemakers…. They are greatly troubling this city…They are upsetting the city… They’re preaching and teaching a doctrine that’s caused us to lose a whole lot of money… As a matter of fact…what they are preaching and teaching is really unlawful for us to hear or observe…

What God expects from The church"

Let me tell you something… God is looking for some spiritual “trouble makers”! in HIS church…Think about it…Why should the devil be the only one to stir up trouble…The trouble he sirs up is evil…His mission is clear: He comes to steal…kill… and destroy….But whenever we share the gospel... the gospel stirs up trouble too …The gospel exposes you down-low and low-low schemes. The Gospel expresses that everybody born in sin and shaped in iniquity needs to be saved. It's just like Jesus said to Nicodemus: You must be born again...The gospel stirs up trouble where sin abounds..The grace of God that's preached through Christ moves in to move sin out!...So, the Gospel is always for the good of the saints and conversion of a new convert…but at the same time it works and is preached to the detriment of wicked unbelievers who rejects Jesus and refuse to be saved...The Gospel message lets us know Jesus came that we might have life and have that life more abundantly.

How the world should see the church

When the church is seen in opposition of the world in every way, the church is then in the eyes of the world a a body of troublemaker...God wants somebody in HIS church to catch on fire…with the fire and Holy Ghost…The Lord wants somebody to get stirred up by the Holy Ghost and let His presence rest on each one of them like cloven tongues of fire…take the Word of God and their personal testimony of to a sin-sick city, preaching it… teaching it…sharing their witness and personal testimony so the power of the Holy Ghost can cause those demons that got strongholds in the lives of the people to tremble at the name of Jesus cause people to leave crack houses…get off drugs. Stop prostituting and selling their bodies to stop stealing and killing…

"Jail House Rock"
Well… now in lock up…Paul and Silas while in jail, sang songs and gave praises to God, so much so, that their praise reached heaven and God responded by earthquake..The earthquake shook the jail….so violently that …. The quake shook off the chains of the prisoners…and flung the doors of the jail cell wide open: The Philippian jailer who thought all the prisoners escaped the open jail… began to draw his sword and was about to commit suicide when Paul cried out with a loud voice: “Don’t take your life…We’re all still here…..Relieve the earthquake didn’t cause a prison break…the jailer cried out to Paul and Silas, “What must I do to be saved”? You know what they told him: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you and your whole house will be saved.

The Power of the "Preached Word"
Let me tell you something else: There is power in preaching the Word of God. Maybe your heart’s in jail….maybe your finances are on lock down, your health’s on the chain gang.,. Maybe the devil and his demons got you feeling that you lock up and locked out of the grace of God ….If you are feeling like you are busted, disgusted…and people feeling like you can’t be trusted,…. If you’re are constantly hung up in all your personal hang ups….you can rejoice today …because God is able to cause a quake in the Holy Spirit and a powerful shift in the atmosphere….The Lord can show you… through Jesus Christ….the Word of God …. And the power of the Holy Ghost how to shake yourself loose …from whatever the Devil’s using to keep you bound…and break every chain…break every chain…break every chain…especially if that chain is other people!!!

Now…consider this: "What does the world's attitude have to do with you and Christ?

Just because we live in these days and times when other people got itching ears and don’t want to hear the Word of God….what does that have to do with you? Yes I know that community radical extremist don’t want prayer in or creation taught in the public schools……but you paid taxes for that school too…. You have an equal right to have the school to teach creation too as they want everything else taught….

"Humanist" Alert!!
You know what?.... Sadly enough there are closet secular humanist that go to some of the same churches we do…. that is until they either get mad…or don't get things to floe their way...As soon as they get mad…they start leaving the church and some of them come back with revenge on their minds and vandalize the building…My question to the body of Christ is…What does that have to do with you and the Word of God? So okay...they may fight you to keep prayer out of the schools but what’s stopping you from covering yourself and your children with prayer at home before you send them off to school and you go off to work? Let me tell you about troubled times….Preaching God’s word will stir up Jesus haters. That’s what happened to Paul… And that what’s happening more and more in these latter days to preachers who are truly holding up the blood stained banner..

Biblical and Historical facts concerning Opposition of the Gospel and Jesus, the one the Gospel is about:

Every time Jesus preached…some got saved… the crowd’s got thinner and the Pharisees and scribes got stirred up…Not only that…even when Paul preached Jesus Christ as the Messiah the same thing happened… people got saved, in some places the crowd got thinner….and the “haters” got stirred up…Well… the same thing is happening in the church today…As long as you talk about prosperity…getting rich…networking without changing you jacked-up life and the preacher preaches and prophesies smooth things….people will flock to that church and say amen loud and proud….but talk about leaving a world of sin… leaving the low-low and the down-low and watch them leave and claim that they weren’t getting fed over there……

Throughout the history of the Christian church…in the Apostles ministry to this present day…whenever the work of the ministry goes about lifting up the name of Jesus and telling a sin-sick dying world that the wages of sin is still death but the gift of God is still eternal life…the church has gone through troubled times…The “Anti- Jesus” haters come out of the woodwork…and get riled up into a vicious “Jesus hating” frenzy…the next thing they do is begin to rampage and ram sacked … and act “thugnacious” as they attack the church…it’s program… and all the people. The Devil employs men and women of the baser sort”… heathen haters of the gospel to do anything and everything under the sun to get rid of God’sreal preachers …the ones who don’t mind telling you that God hates sin… but God loves the sinner..If the devil could….and don’t think for one moment he’s not trying to….he’ll try his best to get rid of the gospel message and everyone who dared to preach it ….believe it…and live according to its teachings. Look at how this Philippian church suffered…and boy did they have troubled times:

1. Members were publicly reviled, ridiculed, lied on, falsely accused and all manner of evil was levied against them just because they departed the old evil ways.

2. These heartless Judiasiers racially profiled them, questioned their patriotism, deemed them all a “threat” to homeland security and openly discriminated against them.

3. These Christ haters kicked them out of their synagogues, black listed and blackballed them from other civic and social organizations just because they made Jesus their choice and joined the church.

Oh it got so bad for these Christians, many times they suffered illegal arrests, had their property illegally seized …many members were tortured, and yes, some even died. This church needed to hear from their pastor and they wanted to know if there was a Word from the Lord that could ease their pain and heal their hurt? Was there a balm in Gilead that could heal the sin-sick soul? Paul…How can we rejoice when the road is so rough…and the going is so tough…and the hills are so hard to climb….Well there are about 2 or 3 things Paul shared with us on how the saints should live in troubled times and then we will wrap up the message:

I. Living victorious in troubled times…Your Attitude toward Christ...Your Suffering for HIM...and Attitude toward Fellow "Suffering" Saints

Paul recognized suffering persecution for the faith was one of the TRUEST TESTERS of REAL CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP. …. Paul understood that this Christian journey requires that we all suffer for the cause of Christ….but to know also that there’s a glorious reward at the end of our suffering…He wanted all of us to know in our suffering that if we gladly suffer for Jesus while we live here on this earth…. In the world to come…. that He’s preparing for you and me….one day…we will reign with Him in glory…Paul learned that NOTHING will ever happen THROUGH YOU, unless SOMETHING has HAPPENED TO YOU! If the church is to be a comfort to anyone else that suffering for Christ….we can’t individually or as a collective body…afford to live our lives in the woe is me…Jesus said we shall have tribulations….but be of good cheer…because I… He said have overcome the world…When we realize that we are more than a conqueror… that even in our most troubled times… I can still say with conviction that the Lord is still my shepherd …my light …and my salvation…and the strength of my life…whom shall I fear and of whom shall I be afraid? I come by to tell you the Lord is still able to do exceedingly….abundantly…above all that you can ask…or think to ask…And because HE can…you can watch over one another in brotherly love….Remember each other in prayer…aid each other is sickness and in distress…That’s why Paul was able to write to this church with words of compassion…words that uplifted….words that reassured them that they could say to themselves….blessed assurance…Jesus is mind…oh what a foretaste…of glory divine….Heir of salvation…purchased of God….Born of HIS Spirit….washed in HIS blood….Yes we need encouragement too…so God gives us enough strength to bear the infirmities of the weaker and gain strength through our encouragement of others.

II.      We can be victorious in our suffering because God is not finished with us…

Paul told the Philippian church in verse 6 that God started a good work…He started a glorious work in them and God intends to finish the very work He started in them ….and in us too…… My brothers and sisters….GOD is not the kind of God that does unfinished work….When Jesus hung nailed on the cross… beatened…. bruised…. battered…and bleeding… the work of redemption for the salvation of man wasn’t half done…Up on that cross…it was completely done…The reason I know… it was completely done is the next to the last thing Jesus said while dying on the cross was “IT IS FINISHED”…What does that mean?....It means…there is only one way to be saved and that way is through Jesus Christ…and our salvation happened when He decided in the Garden of Gethsemane to let the Father’s will be done….submitting Himself to the cross… and staying up on that cross… hearing the slanders and vile hatred hurled at him by those surrounding the bottom of the cross… knowing the evil that saturated the hearts of men…He could have come off the cross and spared Himself the pain and agony but love just would let Him let go… Now you know why we can say… at the cross…at the cross…where I first saw the light….the burdens of my heart… rolled away….It was there by faith….I received my sight….and now….I am happy…all the day…!

Jesus lets us know…even now in these times of trouble a that HE”S not a half saver…. a half healer….a half deliverer….He on the job full time… and He is always right on-time …… As a matter of fact….I might as well tell you….He’s working on you and me right now…He’s sanctifying us …He’s preparing all of us for something we can’t handle right now…so to get us ready...God’s filtering the church….HE”S separating the wheat from the tares…He’s running us through a Holy strainer…He’s hooked us up to salvation’s dialysis machine….cleansing us …with His precious blood….He’s detoxing us from our evil ways…He’s healing us from all of our hang-ups….He’s making us into a church without a spot or a wrinkle…

III.    And then Finally…..it ends with "Pressing ON…the Upward Way

We suppose to forget those things which are behind us and press toward those things that are before us….Paul said" I press toward the prize of the high calling of God which is in Christ Jesus…I heard Paul say… As you are pressing along the way...Only let your conduct be worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ… this mean that we are to reflect the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives not just by the way we talk….but also by the way we walk….how we live and how we give…

What comes with the gospel of Jesus Christ is not just salvation….It also comes with a code of conduct that covers every aspect of our lives. The rudiments of the gospel are to be applied to all our conduct-to including our conversations…, business transactions….. modes and style of dress… style of living, what we do for entertainment …I’m here to tell you…the Gospel covers everything. There is absolutely nothing which we do…nothing we can say… no purpose we can serve… that is the exception to the Gospel rules. Solomon said in Proverbs 14:12: There is a way that seems right unto a man…but the end thereof are the ways of death…God is telling us…there is only one standard of living …which is the appropriate response to the gospel message… and it’s by that standard which is the gospel requires…. There is something in which the gospel secures… as its proper fruits… in all our conduct… and by which all of our lives should be regulated…. Those proper fruits…they being…the Fruit of the Spirit of God… would distinguish us from being frivolous… distinguish us… from people whose supreme objective in life…. is to live just to seek honor and wealth.

Conclusion:
If every Christians were completely under the influence of the gospel of Jesus Christ, there would be something completely different in their everyday dress, their temperance, conversations, and in their giving, which would clearly distinguish them from others… who have a form of godliness…but deny the power thereof…

I stop by here to tell you…It is very important that Christians strive to frame their lives by the rules of the gospel, and, to this end, should diligently study each and know every one of then… We need to know the Church’s covenant and take it seriously. This is important: because God’s way is the best and wisest of all ways. It is only in God’s principles…precepts… and Biblical truths that Christians can do good…We said that we have solemnly and joyfully entered into covenant with God and each other as one body in Christ…covenanted with the Lord to take his laws as their guide…Well…this is the only way we can enjoy good religion and when we come to the end of our journey…we can have peace on our dying bed… and declare the same thing that Paul told Timothy when he came to the end of his journey……The time of my departure is at hand…. I have fought the good fight…. I have finished the race… I have kept the faith….And one last thing… there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,…which the Lord, the righteous Judge… will give to me on that Day, and not to me only …but also to all who have loved His appearing. If every child of God lived their life as it becometh the gospel….we all can live well…We can live with honor and be honest…We are seen as people of truth …because we live our lives in the righteousness of God….In other words…

Remember: If you live right…..you can die right….

Dr. William Edward Boddie

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