JESUS' RESURRECTION PROMISE

SERMON STARTER

MORNING GLORY BLOG

by Jane Ann Crenshaw (Jim)

www.morningglorydevotionals.com

EASTER SUNDAY - 4-25-2011

 

I REMEMBER Mr. Ellett, my pastor; friend and mentor, not to mention my friend Iona Kay’s, father. His presence in the pulpit remains with me today. On Easter our little church sanctuary was filled to overflowing. He would rent the high school auditorium which held at least, if not more than a thousand; and it would be filled to capacity. It didn’t matter where Lawndale’s Easter service was held, Mr. Ellett always shared the same object lesson somewhere in the service.

(Lertis Ellett was my wife, Lois' pastor in the church she grew up in, Lawndale Church of Christ, Lawndale, California.)

HE WOULD hold up an ugly, dirty, shriveled up lily bulb. He would talk about it as though it had been alive and was now dead. With death comes the ugliness of the flesh and subsequently rottenness and decay. The only good thing for death was to bury it in the ground because “All flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.” Job 34:15 God’s word says that the dust of man returns to the earth but the spirit returns to God who gave it.

“ALL FLESH is like grass, and it’s beauty is like the flower of the field. However, the grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are like the grass.” Isaiah 40:6-7 Grasses and flowers fade and die! Man was made from dust and to dust he returns when he dies. This is where Mr. Ellett places the dirty, ugly bulb into the dirt and buries it!

HE THEN tells again, the story of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. He reminds us that as the criminal on the cross, when we, who are followers of the way die; we too will find ourselves in this place called paradise. Some call it the 3rd heaven and some just call it heaven; Jesus is there!

Pièce de résistance (Centerpiece)

The "piece of resistance" is when Mr. Ellett holds up the beautiful lily in all it’s glory and splendor. He reminds us that this glory will replace our dirty, shriveled up ugliness of the flesh in death and give us a life of beauty and grandeur.

SERMON TIE-IN FUNNY!

A few years ago, a letter appeared in the national news that was sent to a deceased person by the Indiana Department of Social Services. It read as follows:

Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992, because we received notice that you passed away.
May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances.

Well, except for an occasional Lazarus, there haven’t been too many who have seen a change in those circumstances!

 

 

 

EASTER - April 24, 2011

Sheepfold Ministries - Pastor Phil Roland

 

JESUS' RESURRECTION PROMISE

JOHN 11:17-27

"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"                                                         John 11:25-26

Jesus' Resurrection Promise is a Seven Word Sermon:

I.  "I AM" IS JESUS' PERSONAL CLAIM TO DIETY

          A. Greek Old Testament - Septuagint

                        1. Translated by Jewish Scholars in the 2rd Century BCE

                        2. Translated by 70 Interpreters - "Septua" = Seventy

            B. Septuagint records Exodus 3:13,14

            "Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The

            God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his

            name?' Then what shall I tell them?" God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM.

            This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

                        1. "I Am" is transliterated from Greek, "Ego Eimi"

                        2. Grammar: First Person, Active Indicative of verb "To Be"

            C. Jesus claims for Himself the Divine, Unspoken Name of God

                      1. Unspoken in Hebrew out of Reverence

                        2. Hebrew Texts reader says, "Hashem" or "Adonoy"

                                    a. "Hashem" means "The Name"

                                    b. "Adonoy" means "Lord"

            D. Seven Times John Describes Jesus as the Great "I Am"

                    1. I am the bread of life - John 6:35
                        "And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to

                        Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."

                        2. I am the light of the World – John 8:12

                        "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the

                        world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the

                        light of life."

                        3. I am the gate – John 10:7
                        "Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am

                        the door of the sheep."

                        4. I am the good shepherd – John 10:11
             "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep."

                        5. I am the Resurrection and the Life – John 11:25

                        "Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who

                        believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives

                        and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

                        6. I am the way, the truth and the life – John 14:6
                        "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one

                        comes to the Father except through Me."

JESUS' RESURRECTION PROMISE, cont., p.2

 

                        7. I Am the vine, you are the branches – John 15:5

                        "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in

                        him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

 

II.  "I AM" THE RESURRECTION

          A. Legal thinkers all agree about Jesus' Resurrection

                        1. Briton: John Singleton Copley, known as Lord Lyndhurst
                   “I know pretty well what evidence is; and I tell you, such evidence as

                        that for the resurrection has never broken down yet."

                   2. Lord Chief Justice of England, Lord Darling, once said

                        “no intelligent jury in the world could fail to bring in a verdict that

                        the resurrection story is true."

          B. Jesus' Resurrection not the same as other Biblical Resurrections

                   1. Elijah raises the Sidonian widow’s son - 1 Ki. 17:7-24

                        2. Elisha raises of the Shunammite woman’s son - (2 Ki. 4:8-37)

                        3. A man accidentally thrown into Elijah's Tomb - 2 Ki. 13:20,21
                        4. Jesus raises Three people

                                    a. Jairus' daughter, "Talitha Koum" - Mark 5:22-43
                             b. The Window's Son at Nain - Luke 7:11-17
                             c. Lazarus, friend of Jesus - Luke 11:11-17

          C. Jesus' Resurrection was different from all Six previous incidents

                   1. These Six all had to die a second time

                        2. Jesus was raised in a New Resurrection Body

                        3. He did not die again, but ascended into heaven - Acts 1:9

                        "Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was

                         taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight."

                   4. His Resurrection Body could be recognized - Luke 24:39

                        "Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a

                        ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."

          D. An African Muslim became a Christian and was asked why
          He answered: "Well, it is like this: suppose you were going down a road

            and suddenly the road forked in two directions. And you didn’t know which

            way to go. If you met two men at the fork – one dead and one alive – which one would you ask to show you the way?”

III.  JESUS SAID, "I AM THE LIFE" - John 11:26
            "whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
            A. "Life" here is a special word - John 3:16

            "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."

                        1. Zoway - God's life in us, now - 1 John 5:12

                        "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God

                         does not have life."

                        2. God's life is found in Jesus. He IS Life - John 17:3

                        "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God,

                        and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

           

JESUS' RESURRECTION PROMISE, cont., p.3

 

            B. He said that He was in the Father and the Father in Him - Jn. 14:11

            "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me

            for the sake of the works themselves."

                        1. Jesus and His Father are in Perfect Relationship - Jn. 10:30

                        "I and My Father are One."

                        2. We are to have that same Relationship w/Him - Jn. 14:19,20

                        "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will

                        see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know

                        that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you."

 

IV.  JESUS RESURRECTION PROMISE IS CERTAIN

          A. His Touch Forever Changes our Lives

                        1. Locard's Exchange Principle - Forensic Science

                        2. Everything that touches a body in a crime scene, leaves an                                         impression

                        3. Everyone Jesus has touched, receives His Impression

                        4. We are forever changed by His contact - 2 Corinthians 3:18

                        "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of

                        the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to

                        glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

            B. Kingdom Principle: You are changed by what you are touched by

                   1. Substance Abuse people are forever changed by chemicals

                        2. We are changed forever by our contact with Jesus

                        3. Friend, Von Geoffrion, co-worker who asks,

                                    "What does God look like?"

                                    "My reply was, 'I think He looks like Jesus!"

                                    Later, after I left this job, I encountered Von.

                                    He was radiant, transformed by contact with Jesus."

            C. Jesus expresses Certitude about His own Resurrection Life

                        1. Jesus is actually challenging Martha in verse 26b

                             "Do you BELIEVE this?

                        2. He is challenging her, "Do you believe/accept my offer?"             
                   3. He challenges us today, "Do you want the life I am offering?"

                        4. Do you want the abundant life Jesus offers to you today?

                        "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.

                         I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more

                         abundantly."     John 10:10

JESUS' RESURRECTION PROMISE

John 11:17-27 (NIV)
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
18 Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem,
19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."
23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
24 Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;
26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
27 "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."