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The Resurrection | |
And when she
had thus said, she turned herself back, and
saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith
unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She, supposing
Him to be the gardener, saith unto Him, Sir, if Thou
have borne Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, She turned
herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; to
My Father: but go to My brethren, I ascend unto
My Father, and your Father; John 20:14–17 |
| Jesus didn’t just teach us about His dying on the Cross for our sins,
and being raised from the dead on the third day – but He also taught us that we,
too, would one day be raised from the dead. That’s something for us to consider and hang
on to: one day we’re going to rise up and meet the Lord in the air, to ever be
with Him. Let us know and understand our
place. Jesus told Mary, I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and
to My God, and your God. This is telling us, clearly, that the Father
of Jesus, and our Father are one and the same; and that His God is also our God.
Jesus was giving Mary assurance, something to bring peace into her
heart. She was the first of all those who
were close to Jesus to see Him raised from the dead.
John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first
day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for
fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace
be unto you. Mary had seen the risen Christ early in the morning. Later on that same day, at evening, the disciples
were behind closed doors for fear of the Jews. Why would they be frightened? Because the Jews wanted to kill all of Jesus’
disciples, so there would be nobody to spread this any further. Have you ever been afraid? Have you ever been afraid – since you’ve been
a Christian? These disciples were afraid.
They were afraid that they, too, might
be taken and crucified. So they were worried
about that: but the Lord wouldn’t leave them worrying too long. Peace be unto you. Those are comforting words, aren’t they. Peace – not war,
not more struggles, but peace. Peace
be unto you – I’m here. Don’t let this worry you. Don’t fret about it any more. Sure this was a rough time for them, but Jesus wanted to help them.
John 20:20 And when He had so said, He showed unto them
His hands and His side. Then were the disciples glad,
when they saw the Lord. RESURRECTION
PROOF So you see there was some proof there. It’s not everybody who walks around with holes
in their hands, where they were spiked to a tree. We shake a lot of hands, but not any like that.
Those disciples would recognize Jesus by the mere fact of those holes.
They had seen the spikes being nailed into
His hands and feet. They saw Him hanging
on that cross. So, to comfort their hearts,
He showed them His hands and He showed them where the spear had been shoved into
His side, and the blood and water gushed out. It was enlightening to these disciples when they saw this. They could readily identify with it. THE CALL OF GOD
TO SERVICE John 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.
Jesus was getting them prepared for service, for what lay ahead in
their ministry. As My Father sent Me, even so send I you: How simply the call of God can come to
one. I would take these same words to heart, take them seriously – The
Lord is always calling another to service. We should all want to be in the place of hoping that sometime the
Master will come by and say something to us that would change our life, and change
the service we give unto Him – so much so, as our whole life will be taken up
with the work of Jesus. These disciples were being encouraged to rise up to the work of God.
There’s a lot of work out there to do for God. Do you see a lot of people out there telling
others about Jesus? Oh, there are those
who are sharing the Gospel,
but there are yet multitudes who are unreached.
Many never heard what these disciples heard, yet deep within have
been made to know and understand that there is a purpose for them, there is a
call. These disciples are getting their eyes opened to this call. And I want us to be more personally minded of
this call, as well. What does He really want you to do? Do you know? There’s so much to do. Just think how God touched your life and brought
you into His kingdom, into this relationship. None of us can say that we know why He chose us. We don’t know at all. But we are surprised when we find out that He
has chosen us to make our life to be a blessing. EMPOWERED FOR
SERVICE John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on
them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost
. . . Put these verses together, and we have a message. It’s not just a message of going out to do something
for the Lord: but it is first receiving the anointing
of the Holy Ghost. At this time, the Holy Ghost had not yet come – but Jesus was preparing
them for that. He put a touch of God on
them as He breathed on them. He was so filled with the Spirit that just breathing
on them could get them lined up to get filled with the Holy Ghost, preparing them
for the Day
of Pentecost when they would be empowered
for the service of God. Jesus has just recently risen, and He is bringing all of this quickly,
making them to understand the realm of service He was sending them for. We need anointing to do the service of God: to reach lost souls with
the Gospel. It’s the Baptism
of the Holy Ghost that prepares us for service.
Just as it was in days of old, it is today. Everyone who is going to serve the Lord and be
fruitful is going to receive the Holy Ghost. At some point God is going to pour out His Spirit in some way. It may not be by a breath. It may be down at an altar of prayer, praying
through unto you are filled with the Holy Ghost and speaking
in other tongues.
It’s not the same with everyone. In my own life, God put a hunger and thirst in my heart and soul,
where I wanted more. I knew I needed more.
There in that tent meeting, God brought me into the place of receiving
the Holy Ghost. It came as a real experience to me, something I will never
forget. That night brought something into my life that’s
been an ongoing thing with God. He called me, and He equipped me. It’s been there ever since. It’s that anointing which was needed for me to
do the work of God. We all need that experience where we get into the depths of this.
It’s not a shallow thing for God to prepare someone
for His service. I look back and wonder about it all. I had looked up to the altar at the preacher.
He opened his mouth and began to prophesy,
speaking to me: My son! When those
words came out of that preacher’s mouth, I saw a red arrow that shot from his
mouth and went right through me. My hands
went up towards heaven, and I received the Holy Ghost. I began to speak in other tongues, and it didn’t
seem like I’d ever stop! I got filled with the Holy Ghost – and the anointing came. As we look in the Bible we see God moving in many strange and wonderful
ways. What does breathing on someone have
to do with getting filled with the Holy Ghost? Understand what was in Jesus. Understand how He was filled, how He was anointed,
how this would bring the disciples into the upper room to wait ten days for the
outpouring of the Spirit of God. Acts 1:4,5 & 8 And, being assembled together with them,
commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise
of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall
be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. But ye shall receive power, after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Waiting for that day when the Holy Ghost would fall, and they would
be filled and anointed to do the service which Jesus was leaving in their hands
to do after He ascended out of this world. Then Jesus would start doing His work in and through us by the anointing
of the Spirit. We should each be in the place where we want God to put something
in our life that will really make the difference. There are those who seem to want something more – but you can’t force
God. If God’s going to speak to you, He
will speak in His time. He put me on the ground under His power, and began to talk to me
about His call. It seemed everything turned
pure white. The presence of God came over
me, and I could do nothing but yield. I lay there, and all at once the Lord’s voice
clearly came with this call of God. The fact of God’s working encourages others to believe and take heart:
there is a time when God will visit a man. There is a time when God calls someone into His
service, when He chooses someone. Here we realize the disciples were chosen for service. And He would get them ready. Just to see the nail prints in His hands. Just to hear those words: As My Father sent
Me, even so send I you. Let this account sink into your heart and mind, so that you may have
more of an opportunity to take hold of those things God would want you to take
hold of. John 20:22,23 And when He had said this, He breathed on
them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Whose soever
sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever
sins ye retain, they are retained. He gave some power to these disciples. I don’t see a place in the Scriptures where God
has said this to anyone other than these disciples. But I do see where we are to forgive those who
have sinned against us, and to ask that God forgive them of that sin. THE NEED TO BELIEVE There are those times when something comes forth that someone needs
so much in their experience – but, then, they weren’t there to get it. Just the message they needed – but they weren’t
around.
John 20:24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him,
We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except
I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print
of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe. Hard to convince! I think
of Thomas for what he was: a doubter. He
was doubting that Jesus was raised from the dead. He couldn’t believe that. The other disciples were telling him that they
saw Jesus, that He was alive: but Thomas couldn’t accept what they were telling
him. Sometimes it’s hard to accept someone else’s word. John 20:26 And after eight days again his disciples
were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and
stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy
finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy hand,
and thrust it into My side: and be not faithless, but believing. Jesus told Thomas what his problem was: he was faithless. We don’t want to be faithless, do we? . . . or do we? If we’re going to be a Christian, we’re always going to be faced
with the need to believe: our believing the Word of God, taking it to heart, absorbing
it. Thomas just couldn’t seem to believe – unless he saw for himself.
After he put his finger into the nail prints,
and placed his hand into Jesus’ side – then he believed. John 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto Him, My
Lord and my God. That’s a quick change of attitude! He saw Jesus, recognized He was alive – he’s
now convinced. But just a moment before
this, he didn’t have faith to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. He needed to rise up above that in his life, and the Lord wanted
to help him come to that place of faith. John 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou
hast seen Me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet
have believed. This reaches out even to us: we’ve not seen Him, but have believed.
You do, don’t you? You believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
You believe He died on the Cross for your
sins. Now, on what basis are you believing? Are you believing on the basis of a strong faith in God, and
a faith that His Word is true? Hold to
that! You’ve not seen Jesus, yet you have believed in Him. You haven’t put your fingers in the nail prints.
You didn’t put your hand into His side.
But, one thing you have done, you’ve read and studied the Scriptures
and taken them to heart. We didn’t have to see anything to believe it. There are those, though, who are like Thomas.
They can’t believe in simple faith, but are faithless.
We want to stand in this place that Jesus spoke of: blessed are they
who have not seen, and yet have believed. This statement reflects to us how much faith
we really have, taking His words to heart. That’s where the real issues are: believing the Lord, and believing His Word.
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