DCFC Online April 4th - Things Aren’t Always As They Seem. Ps Murray Tomlinson

   EASTER SERMON 2021

Things Aren’t Always As They Seem.

Over the last Year or So we have often heard the Saying FAKE NEWS. There is Also a Saying that Many of Us May have Heard over the years and it goes like this: - “Things are Not Always As They Seem.”

 

Very Often Something can Be Happening in Life, or Even In OUR Lives, and Our Perception of what We Think is happening, may Not Actually Be the True Reality of what Is Really Happening. There is another Similar Saying that goes something like this….. “Looks Can be Deceiving.” And What Appears May Not Be Real.

SO “Things are Not Always as They Seem.”

The Original Easter Story carried these Same Overtures, but To Those Involved, they were Completely Unaware.

MATTHEW 26:47-56, Read from My NKJV Bible.
47 And while He was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people.
48 Now His betrayer had given them a sign, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him."
49 Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, "Greetings, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.
50 But Jesus said to him, "FRIEND”, why have you come?"

Sometimes We may Not realise this, BUT YOU…….

Actually Need Judas in your life, as much as YOU need John the beloved disciple. We see that JOSEPH needed His Brothers and Potiphar’s wife, to get Him to Pharaohs Court.]

 

Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and took Him.
51 And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.
52 But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
53 Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? 6000 X 12=

54 How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen this way?"
56 But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled." Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

IN 2 Kings 19:20 Hezekiah Prayed, and God heard, (And in verse 35) ONE ANGEL then Goes Out and Kills an Army of 185,000 soldiers of King Sennacherib of Assyria, in ONE NIGHT, leaving all their corpses Lying on the ground.
SO What APPEARS to be a Betrayal and a Disaster, with a Great Multitude of People Turning up with JUDAS the Betrayer, to Capture Jesus, and the Disciples Fleeing for their Lives in Fear, and JESUS being Led Away, is in Fact Just As God Planned It To Be.     

“Things are Not Always as They Seem.”

What “APPEARS” to be a Carefully Orchestrated, Plan of Jealous, Jewish,

Leaders, along with the Help From the Roman Occupational Forces; and What “APPEARS” to be a COMPLETE DISASTER in the Eyes of the Disciples, Is Actually GOD Going about His Business To Redeem Mankind to Himself.

IN ISAIAH 53:7, (NKJV)
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.  In Other Words, GOD LET IT HAPPEN !!!

IN LUKE 22:31-34, Jesus HAD WARNED Peter that this would happen, BUT He didn’t GET IT…….. (NIV2011)
31 “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat.
32 But I have prayed for you, Simon that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
33 But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
34 Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”

 

SO IN JOHN 19, 5-12, We find JESUS has been taken Before Pilate.  (NKJV)
5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, "Behold the Man!"
6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him."
7 The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God."
8 Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid,
9 and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 Then Pilate said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?"
11 Jesus answered, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."

WHAT JESUS WAS SAYING WAS…… [SIR…You are Just a PAWN in this Game Right Now,     AND I,  Your VICTIM, Standing Here before You,          Am Actually CALLING THE PLAY.]

“You see, Things Here are Not Actually as They Seem.”

It was like JESUS was Saying,  (BUT HE DIDN’T SAY IT )

“PILATE, Because I have said YES, YES, YES, to My Fathers WILL, YOU along with all these Others here, are NOW just a PART of my Fathers PLAN that is being Played Out HERE, before Us ALL.

“PILATE, You are IN…… “way over your head”, and there is Nothing you can do about it.”

12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, "If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar."

 

SO WE SEE……..JESUS BEING LED AWAY to be Crucified, through the Via Delarosa and out to the Place of the Skull.

They hang Him on the Cross, and Crucify Him there at Golgotha. They Divide his Clothes among them. HE sees his Mother (Mary) standing next to John his Younger Half Brother, (FROM VERSE 25—30. Tell the story)

Mary had already Lost Joseph her Husband several years earlier, and now Jesus passes on his Responsibilities for His Mum, to John, and then Yields up HIS Spirit to His Father.   1 Corinth 2:6-10, sheds some light on This.

1 CORITH 2:7-10, Let me Read you this Passage. (NKJV)
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,
8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."
  “You see, Things Were Not Actually as They Seemed.

RESURECTION MORNING COMES AND

LUKE 24:1, Tells Us, The women came to the TOMB with Burial Spices to Embalm his Body, AND Even though JESUS had told them Several Times, that HE Would Rise Again, Yet Somehow…… they Didn’t GET IT !!!

Peter and John run to the Tomb and realise the Tomb had been Opened. They Looking Inside THEY WRONGLY ASSUMED that Some How The Body of JESUS Had Been Removed.

BUT THINGS WERE NOT AS THEY SEEMED.

JOHN 20:11-18, (NKJV) Tells Us…..
11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb.
12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
13 Then they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him."
14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.

[Things Were NOT as They Seemed]
15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, "Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away."
16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him, "Rabboni!" (which is to say, Teacher).

[ You see, Things were NOT as they Seemed]
17 Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.' "

JESUS Was ascending to the ALTAR in HEAVEN to Present Himself as THE FIRST FRUITS of the HARVEST fo Souls that were to Follow. (He was to be a WAVE OFFERING)

JOHN 20:19-20, (NKJV) Tells Us  19 , That same day at evening, being the first day of the week, (SUNDAY NIGHT) when the doors were [shut from the inside] where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stands in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you."
20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

[Also JOHN 20:24-29 Thomas sees Jesus hands]

They had No Idea, that the Scars were for Them , to Save Them.

Reality HAD NOT YET Sunk IN.

LUKE 24:36-43, LUKE gives us His Version of Jesus appearing.  (NKJV)
36 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, "Peace to you."
37 But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit.

THINGS were NOT AS They Supposed. BUT Jesus was literally STANDING THERE among them in Flesh and Blood.
38 And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?
39 Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."
40 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.
41 But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, "Have you any food here?"
42 So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.
43 And He took it and ate in their presence.

Jesus Is the God-Man. Fully God and Fully Man.

 

SOME YEARS I read a STORY, of a Young woman who was Embarrassed by her Elderly Mothers Hands which were Both Very Badly Scarred from Burns,  that they were an Embarrassment to her whenever she went Out with Her Mother in Public. Her mother would never tell her what had happed to her hands. So the young woman would make her Mother wear gloves over her hands whenever they went out in Public so that people’s attention would not be drawn to the disfigured Hands.

 

Several years later the Girl’s Mother died, and She came to The Funeral Parlour, to view her Mother’s Body with other Relatives that had Gathered there. She was Happy to see that the Funeral Director had Kindly placed a pair of Gloves over her Mothers ghastly hands.

 

While others were viewing the Body, her Aunty, (the Mothers Younger sister) took her aside and told her the Story of her Mothers disfigured hands.

 

She said when you were just a little Baby, you were playing next to the fireplace, and You tripped over, and fell down into the flames. Your Mother in a Flash threw herself into the fire to protect you from being Burned, and put her hands between Your Face and the Fire, to stop the Flames from burning your Face and upper body. She then brushed the embers down and away from you with her hands, and crushed them down with her hands so you would not be burned, and that is why they are disfigured.  

 

Suddenly the Young Woman began to Wail Uncontrollably, and she rushed over to her Mother’s Body in the Coffin, and Weeping Loudly she removes the Gloves from her Mothers hands, and Holds her Mothers Scarred hands to her face and Loudly weeping said:- These Scars were for Me, These Scars were for Me. Your Hands Bore the Scars that Would have been over my Face. I never realised What You Suffered to Save my Face, and my life from being Burned.

Thankyou my Mother Thank you. Oh how I Love these Hands, Oh How I Love these Hands.

 

YOU SEE FOLKS, Things Are NOT Always as They Seem, Or As They Appear Right Now;

BUT All will be Revealed in the End.

 

JESUS GOD’S LAMB, HAS SCARS On His Hands and His Side For My Sin and For Yours. HIS BLOOD IS SUFFICIENT to Cleanse YOU and I, and Make Us NEW Creatures in Christ. We’ll never know what He went through for Us this Side of the Grave, but ONE DAY, WHEN WE SEE HIM,  in HIS Presence we’ll see those SCARS for Our Sin. MY SIN and YOUR SIN.

To Protect US from the ETERNAL FIRES of Judgement.

THE CROSS MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE.

Recently I was Reading My Bible in: -

LEVITICUS 5:17 NLT.  Suppose you sin by violating one of the LORD’S commands. Even if you are unaware of what you have done, you are guilty and will be punished for your sin.  Wow !!!

How did these people live under those kinds of Rules. Their Animal SACRIFICES DID NOT remove their Sin, It only Covered Over Them.

Can you imagine going to bed at Night and Praying. Oh GOD. Please Forgive me all my Sins….. and even the ones that I don’t Know if I have committed them or not.

The Old Testament was about Obeying the Commands/ THOU SHALT, THOU SHALT NOT.

 

BUT THE NEW TESTAMENT is NOT Thou Shalt or THOU SHALT NOT.

The new Testament is GOD SAYING,

I WILL……Build my Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.  I WILL pour Out my Spirit on your Sons and daughters and they shall prophesy. I WILL put my laws in their MINDS, I WILL write them on their Hearts, and I WILL be their God.

HEBREWS 8:10-12 Explains this in

Verse 12 says, And I WILL forgive their wickedness  AND I WILL never again remember their Sins.

This New Covenant is ONLY POSSIBLE because JESUS BLOOD WAS THE PERFECT SACRIFICE, (A Sinless LAMB) which was able to NOT ONLY CLEASE US FROM ALL SINS, But IS also able to CLEANSE OUR GUILTY CONCIOUS AS WELL. Jesus BECAME THE PROPITIATION

( THE FULL PAYMENT) for Our Sins. 

  

REVELATION 5:1-14, speaks of the Lamb who was Slain from the Foundation of the World. He Became the LAMB OF GOD for Us, and Ever Lives to Make Intercession for us.

  1 JOHN 1:6-9, Says, (NKJV)
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

SIN comes out of our lives through our Mouth,

WHEN We Acknowledge we have sin, and we Confess it, to Him,

 HE is Faithfull to Forgive Us our Sin, and Cleanse Us From ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.

He Is Alive Forever More.

And because HE Lives, We shall Live Also.