Morning Worship
LOOKING FORWARD
Philippians 3:12-15
Introduction:
A. WORLD SHOULD NOT BE OUR HOME – Hebrews 11:13; I Peter 2:11
B. LIVE FOR THE LORD HERE – Luke 9:23
C. LOOK FORWARD TO LIVING WITH HIM HEREAFTER - Colossians 3:1-4
I. We need a divine discontent - verse 12:
A. Paul said THAT THE end of his life he had not yet "arrived” – Philippians
1:20-24
B. Paul wants to reach full maturity in Christ - verses 12 and 15 – I
Corinthians 9:27; I Corinthians 15:57.58
C. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness…” - Matthew
5:6
II. We need a disciplined devotion - verse 13:
a. One thing I do; do that which is MOST important – Galatians 2:20,21
B. Saying yes to something means saying no to something else - Philippians
3:1-11
III. We need a definite direction- verse 13:
A. We should forget things behind us and reach toward things ahead – MATTHEW
7:13,14; JOHN 14:1-6
B. Satan reminds us of past failures - ROMANS 6:12-23; II CORINTHIANS 2:11
C. We must forget that and move ahead - ROMANS 8:1; Romans 12:1,2
IV. We must have diligent determination - verse 13:
A. We must press toward the goal to win the prize – ii timothy 4:6-8
B. We must keep our eye on the mark - HEBREWS 12:1-4
conclusion:
A. ALL WILL HAVE AN ETERNAL ABODE – john 5:28,29; Matthew 25:46
B. who ARE YOU LIVING FOR NOW?
C. WHERE ARE YOU LOOKING?
Evening Worship
REFLECTING THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST (PART 2)
INTRODUCTION:
A. This EVENING, we will continue in our series on Reflecting The Character
Of Christ. So far in this series, we have seen that we are to be kind and
empathetic just as Jesus is kind and empathetic.
B. WE WILL NOW NOTICE TWO MORE POINTS.
III. THIRD, AS CHRISTIANS, WE SHOULD SHOW GRACE TOWARDS OTHERS JUST AS JESUS
SHOWS GRACE TOWARDS US:
a. John 8:1-11:
1. In this account, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were trying to
trick Jesus into making the final judgment call on the state of an
adulterous woman.
a. If Jesus told the religious leaders that the woman should not be stoned,
they would accuse Him of violating Moses’ law (which in Leviticus 20:10;
Deuteronomy 22:22 required death for adultery)
b. On the other hand, if Jesus urged them to execute her, they would report
Him to the Romans, who did not permit the Jews to carry out their own
executions -John 18:31)
c. On the surface, it seems that Jesus was in a pickle. But of course, Jesus
knew the right answer. He told the people, “If any one of you is without
sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” And then as we know,
each person, one by one, left
B. Although everyone had left, Jesus was still faced with the problem of
confronting the adulterous woman:
1. If you were the one who had to talk with the woman, what would you say?
a. Lady, you are living in sin.
b. How dare you cheat on your husband, you are a low life, scum of the
earth.
c. You are going to Hell and you deserve it.
2. Would you have scolded and lectured her?
3. Let’s look at how Jesus handled it – John 8:10,11
4. The man she sinned with, he had to also be bought, if he were in the
crowd , he had also left, there were no witnesses!
C. When someone sins against us, the Bible teaches in Matthew 18 that we are
to go to that person and talk to them about it. But when we do, we need to
be loving and gentle – Galatians 6:1;2; II Timothy 2:24,25
IV. FOURTH, AS CHRISTIANS, WE ARE TO BE FORGIVING JUST AS JESUS IS
FORGIVING:
a. Before Jesus died on the cross, we read in Mtatthew27:26, 31 that Jesus
was FLOGGED OR SCOURED & THEN CRUCIFIED.
b. I want to take you back to the streets of Jerusalem and describe the pain
and agony that Jesus endured and how He treated His executioners:
1. First of all, the Bible says that Jesus was “flogged or scourged.”
2. To prepare a man for scourging the victim was stripped of his clothing.
His hands were tied to an upright post above his head. The back, buttocks,
and legs were laid bare for beating. This procedure exposed the greatest
area possible to inflict as much pain as possible.
3. The instrument used in scourging was a short whip called a flagrum. It
consisted of a handle, to which several cords or leather thongs were
affixed, which were weighted with jagged pieces of bone or metal, to make
the blow more painful and effective.
1. C. Truman Davis, a medical doctor, describes the process of scourging on
the body of Jesus:
The Roman legionnaire steps forward with the flagrum in his hand...The heavy
whip is brought down again and again across Jesus’ shoulders, back and legs.
At first the heavy thongs cut through the skin only. Then as the blows
continue, they cut deeper into the tissues, producing first an oozing of
blood from the capillaries and veins of the skin, and finally spuring
arterial bleeding from vessels in the underlying muscles. The small balls of
lead first produce large, deep bruises which are broken open by the many
blows. Finally the skin of the back is hanging in long ribbons and the
entire area is an unrecognizable mass of torn, bleeding tissue. When it is
determined by the centurion in charge that the prisoner is near death, the
beating is finally stopped. The half-fainting Jesus is then untied and
allowed to slump to the stone pavement, wet with His own blood.
5. After Jesus was scourged, Matthew 27:27-31 tells us that the soldiers put
a crown of thorns on His head (the scalp is one of the most vascular areas
of the body which would cause a lot of bleeding) and mocked him, saying,
Hail, King of the Jews.
6. After that, from the place of scourging, Jesus started out on the 650
yard journey “bearing his own cross” enroute to Calvary. The part of the
cross that was carried was the patibulum, the horizontal part which weighed
between 75 to 115 pounds. Along the way, we read that Simon of Cyrene, a
North African carried the cross of Jesus to Calvary.
7. When Jesus finally arrived at Calvary, He was crucified.
8. C. Truman Davis describes the crucifixion of Jesus:
The crucifixion begins. Jesus is offered wine mixed with Myrrh, a mild pain
relief mixture. He refuses to drink. Simon is order to place the patibulum
on the ground and Jesus is quickly thrown backward with His shoulders
against the wood. The legionnaire feels for the depression at the front of
the wrist. He drives a heavy, square, wrought-iron nail through the wrist
and deep into the wood. Quickly, he moves to the other side and repeats the
action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly, but to allow some
movement. The patibulum is then lifted in place at the top of the stipes and
the reading ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews’ is nailed in place. The
left foot is pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet
extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the
knees moderately flexed. Jesus is now crucified.
As He slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists,
excruciating, fiery pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode
in the brain--the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median
nerves. As He pushes Himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, He
places His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there is the
searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal
bones of the feet.
At this point, another phenomenon occurs. As the arms fatigue, great waves
of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless,
throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push Himself
upward. Hanging by His arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the
intercostal muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but
cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise Himself in order to get even one
short breath. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the
blood stream and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, He is able to
push Himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen.
Hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rendering cramps,
searing pain as tissue is torn from His back as He moves up and down against
the rough timber. Then another agony begins. A deep crushing pain deep in
the chest as the pericardium slowly fills serum and begins to compress the
heart.
It is now almost over--the loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical
level--the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish
blood into the tissues--the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to
gasp in small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues send their flood
of stimuli to the brain. The body of Jesus is now in extremis, and He can
feel the chill of death creeping through His tissues...His mission of
atonement has been completed. Finally He can allow his body to die. With one
last surge of strength, He once again presses His torn feet against the
nail, straightens His legs, takes a deeper breath, and utters His seventh
and last cry, ‘Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.
9. Isn’t your heart touched and moved to hear how Jesus died for you and me?
10. From this detailed account of Jesus’ death, I want you to see that even
though Jesus experienced intense pain and agony, in Luke 23:34, while on the
cross, Jesus asked God to forgive those people who were putting Him to
death.
11. Although Jesus was experiencing an incredible amount of pain and anguish
on the cross, He did not ask His Father to strike them dead but to forgive
them. He manifested no hatred, no ill-will, no animosity, no vengeance.
Instead, He forgave them.
12. as Christians, we are to forgive others just as Jesus forgives us – Mark
11:25; Ephesians 4:31,32
CONCLUSION:
a In closing this two part series, we have seen that our lives need to
reflect the character of Christ.
b. t type of character does Jesus have?
1. He is kind-hearted.
2. He is Empathetic.
3. He shows grace.
4. He is forgiving.
c Is this the type of character you portray?
d. Make the change so people can see Christ living in you!
