Month: April 2024

Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

LIVING TO PLEASE GOD
(THE CALL TO HOLINESS)

Nobleton community Church
April 28, 2024
TEXT: I Thessalonians 4:1-12
Pastor Paul V. Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

I would like to emphasize verse 7 in this section of chapter 4.

“For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.”

We saw last week in chapter 3, after Paul left Corinth and went to Athens because of the persecution of the Jews, he sent Timothy to Thessalonica to find out the progress that this young church had made. When Timothy returned with a good report of how well they had received the gospel and that they were faithful. Paul then writes this letter back to them and answers some of the questions they have. He wanted to establish them in their faith, but also to encourage them about those who had died. Last week we talked about how prayer is the way we become perfected in holiness, and learn to please God. Now Paul wants them to know that he was glad to hear that they were living to please God, and he encourages them to do so even more. The Thessalonians along with most of the New Testament Christians were saved out of an impure society of the Greek-Roman world. We see in I Corinthians 6:9-11 that they were caught up in discussions about the evil habits of their environment. They were reminded of what they were saved from; We read; “…do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. These conditions existed in Thessalonica too, That’s why when Paul received the report that their faith was known everywhere, how they had turned from idols to the true and living God.

In our society, we face everything they did, only in different forms. However what we read in If Corinthians isn’t so different. We must make sure that we as 21st century Christians are totally sanctified and set apart and are consecrated to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that we can have victory over the desires of the flesh.

THE CHURCH’S STANDARD IS MORAL PURITY.

Beginning in Chapter 4, Paul makes a move from the theoretical to the practical. He could be very brusque when necessary but he could also be very diplomatic. He wanted the Thessalonians to do better but he did not want to discourage them in their present achievement; so he suggested that they continue in the way they have been walking. —to walk and please God, but they needed more teaching in order to face a culture that was so ungodly. God’s will necessitated a clean breach of pagan standards. The terrible sex pressures of our own age necessitate investigation into the Apostolic teachings concerning Christian conduct and behavior.

We must walk in the way of holiness. We don’t have to be victims in a world that has chosen to live according to the desires of the flesh and not according to God’s standards. Jesus reiterated God’s standards when he gave his sermon on the Mount, where he emphasized that the matter of adultery and fornication were conditions of the heart and of the mind rather than overt acts. He also gave a supreme exhibition of moral purity in his own life.

Sanctification, or holiness is explained as keeping oneself pure. Living in purity. This has a negative aspect in the refraining from all corruptions of the body and a positive aspect in the fulfillment of the principal ordinance of God in holy marriage. This is an example of sanctification or setting apart (especially today) of the equivalent to separation and consecration. This is within the power of the individual but the holiness resulting is the effect of the Holy Spirit’s influence, when the couple is committed to Jesus Christ.

We see in this passage:

THE SEPARATION FROM WORLDLY IMMORALITY.

The moral climate in the Roman Empire was morally decadent: “Immorality was a way of life; and thanks to slavery, people had the leisure time to indulge in the latest pleasures. The Christan message of holy living was new to that culture, and it was not easy for these young believers to fight the temptations around them. The late pastor and commentator William Barclay gives good historical background on all of the New Testament. He says, in Rome, for the first 520 years of the Republic, there had not been one single divorce, but now, under the Empire, as it has been put, divorce was a matter of unpredictable change, on a whim or notion. It was said: “Women were married to be divorced and divorced to be married.” In Rome, the years were identified by the names of the consuls, but it was said that fashionable ladies identified the years by the names of their husbands. There was an instance of a woman who had eight husbands in five years. Morality was dead. Well if that was the case then, for the first half of the 20th century we were almost if not equal to that attitude. But then the “sexual revolution” of the late ’60s, and into the 70s, until now 24 years into the 21st century, it is no longer necessary to get married to have children. A girl who has a baby can even choose not to put the name of the father if she doesn’t want to.

In Rome, one of the philosophers said; “We have courtesans (this is an old fashion term for wealthy prostitutes. We might say “call girls”) for the sake of pleasure, we have concubines for the sake of daily cohabitation, we have wives for the purpose of having children legitimately, and of having a faithful guardian for all our household affairs.” So in Greece, home and family life were near to being extinct, and fidelity was completely non-existent.”

The Psalmist declares in Ps. 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” But the opposite always occurs when nations either ignore the Lord or turn away from Him, as we see happening in our country today.

But through the gospel of the Lord Jesus, God comes into our lives, regardless of our condition or culture, joins us into union with Him through faith in the Savior, and begins—

A reformation movement to transform us into the moral character of the Savior.

This occurs as His life is lived out in ours by the Holy Spirit according to the Word. This is not a matter of simply changing cultural patterns like Westernizing natives, (we don’t call people in other countries that anymore—they are Nationals) but changing the spiritual and moral fiber of men and women. God who is holy, is deeply concerned with our walk.

As a result, a number of passages like 1 Thess. 4:1 –address the concept of the believer’s walk. Paul reminds them “We instructed you, how to live in order to please God.” The Christian life is compared to walking. Walking becomes a visual aid to teach us how to live. By means of walking, we move from one sphere to another; we seek to carry out certain responsibilities at work, at home, in the church, and in society. We do many things, some good and some not so good. But walking also means taking one step at a time, and with each step, while one foot is off the ground as we move forward, we are susceptible to being knocked off balance, to stumbling or stepping into trouble.

Phillip’s paraphrase of verse 3 is, “God’s plan is to make you holy, and that entails first of all a clean cut with sexual immorality.” The exhortation is to flee the fornication of the pagan world. The Bible warns against promiscuity, easy women, loose relationships, and affairs before marriage. This was true in the New Testament period and it is certainly true today. From the Christian point of view, the body is to be under discipline. Again quoting from Phillips in verses 4 and 5, “Everyone of you should learn to control his body, keeping it pure and treating it with respect, and never regarding it as an instrument of self-gratification, as do the pagans with no knowledge of God.” The whole sex relationship is to be consecrated to God. The discipline over the body must stand in marriage and out of marriage. The body must be sanctified as well as the mind and spirit.

Paul added that such immorality resulted in the defrauding of one’s brother or sister Relations with the opposite sex based upon gratification or selfishness always defraud, hurts, and wounds another. It is a repudiation of the dignity of men and women as the children of God. It treats them as things rather than persons. As the result of such practices, there are millions of people who have been seriously hurt.

THE SOURCE OF CHRISTIAN PURITY

Paul speaks of purity as being “according to the will of God.” God’s plan for men and women is a sanctified relationship of monogamous marriage with procreation, love, responsibility, and character development. Our bodies are to be kept in a righteous relationship to God, whether in or out of marriage. Thus man is to be sanctified body, soul, and spirit and kept blameless into the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God will punish all who violate this standard (verse 6) Judgment is the function of God, is committed to Christ, and will be executed on the wicked at Christ’s coming. Granted there is a difference between the sexual immorally that was present at Corinth and Thessalonica, where temple prostitution and other forms of sexual immorality were present—that is different from two people today who say they love each other and decide to live together for a while. But you see, it may be different in our eyes, but not in God’s since His standard is the same. This does not remove the subjective effects of such sin is present judgment. Sex sin hardens, makes selfish, and enslaves the victim. Thus those who plunge into an unclean life are in great spiritual jeopardy.

God has made provision for deliverance from such enslavement. (verse 8) Anyone who rejects this instruction (Paul says) does not reject a human being but God. The very God who gives you his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who regenerates us indwells us and empowers us, enables us also to partake of God’s holiness. Through the Spirit, we, therefore, sanctify ourselves. Any physical sin will grieve God’s Spirit, will terminate His ministry in us and will cause Him to resume His work of conviction, chastisement and rebuke. The New Testament standard is that we should not accommodate ourselves to the lax moral standards of the non-Christian world.

Nobleton Community Church
April 21, 2024
TEXT: I Thessalonians 3:1-13
Pastor Paul V Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Paul felt a great responsibility for his converts which he compares to that of a father for his children. That involves encouraging, comforting and urging them to live lives worthy of God, who calls us into his kingdom and glory. Until Christ be perfectly formed in them. (Galatian’s 4:19-where Paul likens the pain of childbirth to how he feels about them until they completely follow the Lord. That’s why he was committed and really wanted to make a second visit to the Thessalonians. His purpose was to see their faith perfected, so they could persevere no matter what Satan threw at them. This would be a crown of rejoicing when the Lord comes back. He knew that justification before God (that is: being made righteous because of the forgiveness, and victory over death that Christ accomplished on the cross); was only a means to holiness and not an end in itself. He expected Christians to go deeper, in the things of experiencing the holiness of God, the love of God, and the power of God in their lives. In this purpose Paul was frustrated by Satan. It was in the form of persecution by his fellow-countrymen. Because Paul couldn’t return to Thessalonica, (2:8) he sent Timothy as his representative to establish them and comfort them. According to Acts 17:10 Paul left Thessalonica and went to Berea. When trouble broke out there, some Christians took Paul to Athens. It was quite a praise report of good news when he came back to tell Paul of their progress in the faith. (Verse 6).
Paul’s desire and passion was to see the church at Thessalonica, immovable by temptation, trials, error or persecution.
Some people feel that if you experience troubles and trials are always caused by sin or a lack of faith. But trials may be a part of God’s plan for believers. Experiencing problems and persecutions can build character. (James 1:2-4). Problems are unavoidable for God’s people. Your problems may be a sign of effective Christian living. Some people turn to God with the hope of escaping their suffering and problems. But God doesn’t promise that, instead he gives us power to grow through our sufferings.
He knew that their faith had to be completed by teaching. Conversion is instantaneous but maturity in Christian experience takes growth. For this purpose the teaching ministry is essential. Paul prayed that the Father would direct his way to do this and lead them to greater love for the Lord and his holiness.
His objective was intensified by his uninterrupted intercession for them
THE EXPERIENCE OF PERFECTION OF FAITH
Paul prayed that they would move on from the elementary teachings about faith as we read in Heb. 6:1-2, and move on and experience the foundation truths about Christ and not be stuck —so to speak—in the main truth about salvation. God is holy and he wants his people to be holy. When we are filled with the Spirit, we experience the full salvation that we read about in the Gospel of John where Jesus tells us that he has come that we might have LIFE in all its fullness. (“Abundantly”)
After conversion it is inevitable that sin will reinsert itself in the believer’s life in many forms. This is hurtful to our faith, and disillusioning to our assurance. If Christian teachers leave converts in this condition it is no wonder that they backslide. It is important that we impart to them the knowledge of their position in Christ. That is to show:
THE EXHIBITION OF PERFECTION OF FAITH
Paul prayed that they would increase and abound in love toward one another. The one Biblical standard for the Christian life is LOVE. In the Old Testament they were under LAW, and it was negative, whereas LOVE IS POSITIVE. Love brings about honesty, integrity, purity, charity and loyalty.
The kind of love which we have when Christ is in our life delivers us from every kind of fear. Perfect love in Christ casts out FEAR. (I John 4:18) It delivers us from fear of judgement by God. We can experience the LOVE of God, which when we receive His son Jesus into our hearts and lives, it is his love that others see in us. When others see a lack of love in our hearts it shows a need for perfecting our FAITH. When we fail to love God and others like we should, God has more for us by way of Christian experience.
What is—THE END OF PERFECTION OF FAITH ?
HOLINESS IS THE END PURPOSED BY THE PERFECTION OF FAITH.
It is imparted by the Holy Spirit. Prayer is the main contribution toward the achievement of a state of holiness. I want to make one thing clear. This isn’t something that makes you religious. When people say that so in so is religious, they probably mean they are either a committed Christian, or not a Christian. Religion is something that man strives for. That’s what the Pharisees that Jesus faced all the time. They were religious, and counted on what the Law stated, but of course Jesus pointed out how they were miss interpreting so many things. Religion is man trying to reach out and satisfy God or gods. What our Heavenly Father offers is a Relationship because of what Jesus Christ his son did for us on the cross. When we receive him into our lives, as put our trust in him as our only Savior, his Holy Spirit comes into our hearts, and as we submit and yield to His control, he sanctifies us our sets us apart to serve him and He is the only one who can make us holy.
Sometimes people want to make the gospel more attractive. They encourage people to give their lives to Christ, and they will find the peace and joy they are searching for. That part is true, but we must never make any kind of promises that God will keep you from going through trials or that we won’t have any problems. It is more likely that our lives will get harder. Our family might turn against us, we might lose our job, and People will put expectations on us that things should change for the better. If a family member is living in sin, and are caught up in all kinds of trouble, there will still be consequences for sin. What Jesus will do is give you the will, the wisdom, the strength and the power to walk through anything Satan throws at you. We just need to allow the Holy Spirit who lives in us to be involved with our everyday life. Not just when there is a crisis. I read about three young men who completed a yachting expedition up the west coast of Scotland. They commented that when you are at home you may never listen to or look up the weather forecast. At least that used to be the case. Now you just look it up on your phone. I do it almost every day. Anyway, he said when we were on that yacht we listened to the weather forecast every day —we were all ears. It was quite possible to do without knowing the weather when we were at home where life was comfortably safe; it was essential though when our lives might depend on knowing the weather. We are apt to try the same thing with God. In ordinary things we disregard Him, thinking we can manage okay by ourselves, but in an emergency we call out to him, knowing we can’t make it by ourselves.
It is to God that Paul always turned to for guidance and direction. We use God to try to achieve a God-rescued life; Paul had a close relationship with God to achieve a God-directed life.

Nobleton Community Church
April 14, 2024
Text: I Thessalonians 2: 1-16
Pastor Paul V Lehmann

Listen to the live audio here

Last week we talked about how Paul became a “game changer” by preaching the gospel to this church in Thessalonica. This church had quite a testimony. Some churches have a testimony of being a “Missions giving” church, Others have the testimony of being an “Outreach church.” Nobleton Community Church had the testimony of being a “Friendly Church.” That is still true, but I hope we are also getting the reputation and having a testimony of being a church that preaches the gospel.

When Timothy returned from Thessalonica to Corinth and reported to Paul, he told him of the attacks which the Jews were making on his ministry and his person. These Jews had opposed him when he was there, out of envy. They said he was deluded and crazy. Also he was impure and that he was a deceiver (verse 3 ) The NIV says that he was accused of tricking them. This meant that he was lumped in with the magicians, charlatans, and the “quacks” of the day; that he practiced immorality as the heathen priests did in Corinth in connection with the polytheistic religions who sought to make a profit from his deluded followers. Paul defended himself by calling to the memory of the Thessalonians, what his ministry was really like when he was with them.

HE REMINDS THEM ABOUT HIS MANNER OF LIFE AMONG THEM

Paul said in verse1; “you know that our ministry among you was not without results. Then in verses 2-5, he reminds them about his suffering in Philippi, and before God he tells them that with the help of God, he endured all of that and that his life was not impure. He also reminded them of his affection and love for them, —that it was like a mother’s love for her children. He reminded them of how he worked outside of the ministry (as a tent-maker), because he didn’t want to be a burden to them financially. All this was to counteract what they were hearing about him.

THEN HE DECLARES THAT HIS MESSAGE WAS:

FROM GOD NOT MAN.

His message was the Gospel—the Good News. Verse 4 says that it was committed to him by God. The very content of the message was an attestation of his character because someone who preaches this kind of message can’t be a deceiver and we are not doing it to please people, but God, who tests our hearts. Being saved, he had a responsibility to carry the message -the Good News to others. The problem with too many Christians today is that they consider their salvation,– when they received Jesus into their hearts, to be only a “fire escape from hell.” They want to go to heaven, but the idea that they have a responsibility to testify to the fact that they have placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation doesn’t always seem to be their understanding of what the Lord requires of them.

He goes on to say that God searches our hearts when we cry out to him, and he tests us to see if there is any wicked way in us. What Paul went through every time he planted a church, was so severe that he couldn’t possibly do it unless the Lord gave him the strength. No matter what Satan his enemy, (working through the Jews and pagan Gentiles), threw at him, he had the wisdom, strength and supernatural power by the Holy Spirit to support it. The opposition was great by so many, but in spite of this he was successful, and that’s why he commended the Thessalonians so much. They responded to the gospel, in spite of what others were saying about him.

Any time the Lord calls us into ministry, and he calls each of us in different ways, he also gives us the strength to do what he calls us to do. Paul never changed his message or flattered or “buttered up” people in order to make his message more acceptable. What he did do was adopt the message to the people he was trying to reach. May the Lord help us to do this too. Cross-cultural missionaries must do this all the time. When the teaching is based on the Word of God, and on Jesus Himself people will respond. This was true of the people in the Ngeba region where Tata Mbanda and I planted a church. A village about 3 or 4 miles away had received a Catholic priest to come into their village to teach them. He complained that they didn’t give him a young girl to be with him at night. The Village chief ordered him out of the village. He said to him; “you get out of here and never come back. We want someone to teach us what the Bible says, not to corrupt our young women.” When we evangelized this village. After we showed the Jesus film in Kikongo, almost the whole village turned to Christ. We provided them with Bibles and Mbanda went back every week to teach them. After a month or so, We told them to pick a couple of elders to lead them. When we returned, we met with the whole village, probably over 100 adults. We sat at a table with kerosene lanterns. We read to them the requirements for someone who is an elder or overseer in I Timothy 3. Then one of the men said; “we need to meet together again. The men we had chosen, did not meet the Biblical requirements. They came back a while later and presented to us two different men than they had first chosen. They were led by the Word, and the Holy Spirit to put the priest out of the village, and to welcome us because we taught them the Word. They believed what they saw in the scripture.

When we reach out to people we should never just give them what they might want to hear. We must be honest with them, and only share the Word. Sometimes we might be tempted to share things that would make a good impression. Paul says that we didn’t come to them with flattering words, but he was open with them and the Holy Spirit used his word so that they would respond. They didn’t respond to Paul, but to the truth about Jesus Christ. It was the Holy Spirit that changed them so that they turned from idols to serve the true and living Savior Jesus Christ.

Our objective should be always to please God and not people. Faith that God will vindicate a righteous and consistent life is the motivating power of all service and sacrifice.

So Paul could leave his detractors to the sovereign disposal of God. The Jews tried to keep him from sharing the Good News, but it didn’t work. The pagans tried to keep the Thessalonians from responding. It didn’t work. They were just as bad as the Jews who tried to keep their fellow Jews from following Jesus. God has promised: “Vengeance is mine, the Lord says, I will repay.” And He has admonished men; “Touch not those I have anointed.” We may therefore accept an example of Paul and “heap coals of fire on our enemies head.” We read in Proverbs 25:21; “If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat, if he is thirsty give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Now perhaps you have wondered how serving your enemy in this way, could possibly “heap coals of fire on his head. In the East, this is not a way to show revenge, but the expression refers to the custom of one household that has a flint and thus a way of starting a cooking fire. Early in the morning the mother lights coals and places them on a piece of broken pottery and puts them on the head of a young boy, and he begins to go from house to house delivering some coals of fire so the neighbors will be able to prepare breakfast. This is actually a pleasant task for the boy on a cold morning. The coals keeps him warm.

Heaping burning coals on someone’s head isn’t a way of revenge, but it is an extension of the admonishment to “Bless them who curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you.” —If you heap coals of fire on your enemy’s head, you are doing so– on his mind and heart, and you may persuade him to put away his evil ways.

No matter how many detractors the enemy of our souls, Satan raises up to stop the spreading of the gospel in a given area, whether it is planting a new church, or trying to stop an established church from growing. He will not succeed; anymore than what happened by the ministry of Paul in Thessalonica. There were plenty of detractors there—-those who stirred up trouble for Paul, that no one would respond to the gospel, but the Holy Spirit had another agenda. God’s name was glorified when so many turned to Jesus Christ.

Don’t allow anyone or anything to detract you form fulfilling what God has asked you to do. He won’t ask you to do anything without giving you the wisdom, the gifts, and the power to accomplish what he has called you to do.

Nobleton Community Church
March 31, 2024 Sunrise Service
Text: Matthew 28:6-7
Pastor Paul V Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

The message of Christianity is good news from a cemetery. Graveyards have always been melancholy places because they are associated with grief, sadness and separation from our loved ones. The cemetery is the last place from which one would expect to receive good news.

When Jeannene and I were missionaries in Paris, France, her great niece Amber, came to visit us. She was a fan of “The Doors” a secular group whose lead singer Jim Morrison had died of an “overdose” of heroin in 1971. He had gone to Paris while awaiting an appeal to indecent exposure while performing in Miami. He was living in a 4th floor apartment with his girlfriend, in the arondisement of Maurais in Paris. There are many theories about how he died, but he is buried in the Poet’s section of the Pere Lachaise Cemetery on the east side of Paris. Amber asked if we knew where Jim Morrison was buried. We had never heard of him, and at the time of his death, we were in The Congo. I did some research and found out where he was buried and we took her there to see the grave, where a remarkable simple tomb marks his grave but it is one of the most popular. . This was the largest (110 acres) and old cemetery with huge tombstones and mausoleums. Oscar Wild the most famous buried there, had gone to Paris, ironically enough because he was arrested for indecency in England.

The day we went to the grave, there was a couple sitting in front of the slab which was all that was there. Every time they put up a marker including a bust of Morrison, it was stolen so they have now put an iron railing around it. While there we saw a couple smoking pot while lamenting Morrison’s untimely death.

From the beginning of time, man has raised the question which was articulated by Job. “If a man dies, shall he lie again?” (Job 14:14). Century after century the shall and the great, the wise and the foolish, the rich and the poor, the young and the old marched into the silent, clammy chambers of death. People stood in fear of death and the grave.

It remained for Jesus Christ, the God-Man, to come with an authentic answer to Job’s painful perplexing question.

THE BASIC TRUTH OF CHRISTIANITY, AND THE CENTRAL CORE OF THE GOSPEL IS THE RESURECTION OF CHRIST.

The angelic announcement ; “He is not here, for he is risen, just as he said. Come see the place where the Lord laid. And go quickly, and tell his disciples that HE IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD.:(Matthew 28:6-7) This is the basic truth of the gospel. This Easter message is not an argument—it is a proclamation. The angels declared this Jesus Christ had conquered death and had risen to life. The apostles experienced the living presence to the extent that they died martyr’s deaths rather than surrender or renounce their faith and deny their relationship to Him. The Scriptures record at least eleven appearances of the living Christ to the disciples. The empty tomb “spoke with a shout” to declare that he was no longer dead. (Acts 2:24 and II Tim. 1:10). The present day strength of Christianity is a dramatic testimony to the presence of the living Christ who has walked through the corridors of time. So let’s consider: TWO DECLARATIONS FOUND IN THE GOOD NEWS OF THE RESURRECTION. FIRST—-

I. THE DECLARATION OF THE EMPTY TOMB

During the last six months of our Lord’s earthly ministry, he taught his disciples concerning the necessity and nature of his death on the cross. He taught them in parables in John 2:19 and John 12:24 and he spoke directly in John 10:17-18, and Matthew 16:21 and 17:22-23. They found these teaching impossible to understand and they tried to prevent Christ from going to the cross. You remember perhaps how Peter told him—oh no Lord, you will never have to do that, and Jesus recognizing that the enemy of our souls was prompting him to say that; responded with “get behind me Satan. The shameful and horrible death on the cross was, for them, a great personal tragedy. He was their dearest friend. Thay had placed their complete confidence in him, and placed on him the future of their nation. His death, for them, was a great political tragedy because they expected him to be a nationalistic Messiah who would deliver Israel from the domineering power of Rome. His death on the cross, for them, was a public disgrace. There was no more shameful manner in which a man could die. Jesus was condemned as a common criminal and sentenced to death by crucifixion. This was a fate so terrible that Roman law forbade the crucifixion of a Roman citizen even for the most serious and outrageous crime.

It wasn’t until the mysterious miracle of the first Easter morning that they began to understand what the Savior had been trying to communicate to their minds and hearts.

1.) THE EMPTY TOMB DECLARED TO THEIR MINDS AND HEARTS THAT JESUS CHRIST WAS REALLY THE DIVINE SON OF GOD. — AND IROMANS 1:4 says: “…AND WHO THROUGH THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS WAS APPOINTED THE SON OF GOD IN POWER BY HIS RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD….

Jesus Christ of Nazareth had worked in a carpenter shop. He had walked about Galilee. He became hungry like other men. He experienced weariness and exhaustion. He knew loneliness and sorrow. He was human like us, but he also was God. However, he operated in the power of the Holy Spirit like we are able to do if we have given ourselves over to him and his power. He gave sight to the blind; He made the deaf to hear; He made the lame to walk; He brought the dead back to life. He commanded the winds to cease their blowing and they obeyed. He ordered the waves of the sea to be calm and without hesitation they carried out his orders.

On several occasions he declared himself to be the Son of God, and he had the audacity to forgive sin. He claimed to have the power to lay down his life and also to take it again. This was the boldest of his claims. It was this, the fulfillment of this claim, that authenticated the truth of all his teachings and declared him once and for all to be the God-man. He was the eternal God with a human body.

2.) THE EMPTY TOMB DECLARES THAT HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS MADE ATONEMENT FOR OUR SINS (Romans 4:25) –… ”He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”

Some may ask the question; “How can we know that the death of Jesus Christ, took care of the sin that separates us from God.

The resurrection is the answer.! I Corinthians says in 15: verses 16-19 that if Christ had not been raised from the dead, then we only have hope in this life (nothing beyond the grave), and we are to be pitied for believing this. But verse 20 says; “ But Christ had indeed ben raised from the dead …For since death came through a man, the resurrection from the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.”

When Jesus was baptized, a voice came out of heaven, saying; “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:17). On the mountain of Transfiguration there was also an expression of divine approval.

( Matt. 17:5) The final approval was the resurrection. Jesus was our substitute for what we as sinners deserved.—death- His death met God’s requirement for our sins, in order to meet God’s justice, who will bring every sin into judgement. It can happen for us now, if we except God’s provision through Jesus Christ, if we accept him as our personal Savior, or we will one day be judged after our death, when it will be too late to escape eternal punishment in hell.

3.) THE EMPTY TOMB WAS FOR THE APOSTLES, AND FOR US, A PROMISE OF VICTORY OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE.

Jesus had said to Martha before his death on the cross; “I am the resurrection and the life, he that believes in me, though he were dead, shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. ( John 11;25-26) He also said; “Because I live, you shall live also (John 14:19)

This is GOOD NEWS for us today because one day when it is our time if Jesus doesn’t come back before we die, our bodies will end up in a graveyard. By his resurrection from the dead, Jesus was giving a dramatic demonstration of the reality of immortality. ETERNAL LIFE IS REAL.

Many people think that the GOSPEL is good advice. Let us never forget, as someone has said: Truly, the gospel is not good advice, but GOOD NEWS. It does not tell us what we ought to do for God, It tells us WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US. It does not offer us lessons from the life of Christ, IT OFFERS US LIFE BY THE DEATH OF CHRIST.

The second declaration found in Christ’s resurrection is:

II. THE DECLARATION OF A LIVING SAVIOR

1.) CHRISTIANITY MUST BE DEFINED IN TERMS OF A RELATIONSHIP TO A LIVING LORD.

In John’s vision in Revelation 1:18, Jesus says; ..”I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades. (Hell).

THIS IS GOOD NEWS FROM A CEMETERY!!

Tomas Arnold a British Educator and historian of the early 19th century, called the resurrection “the best attested fact in history.” There are many modern day supporters of the historical fact of the resurrection, like Josh McDowell “Evidence that Demands a Verdict” and Lee Strobel’s series on “The Case for Faith.”

Luke who wrote one of the Gospel’s and the book of Acts, was both an inspired and painstaking historian wrote; “he presented himself alive after his passion (his suffering) by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days. He showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. (Acts 1:3).

This truth should revitalize our worship, for we come together, not in memory of a dead Christ but in fellowship with a living Lord who said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the mist of them. “ Matt. 18:20

2.) That he is alive makes prayer more meaningful, for when we pray in his name, we requisition the needed resources from the bank of heaven for the carrying on of his Kingdom’s work.

3.) Sacrificial service is more meaningful and worthwhile because the resurrection proves that God will bring every good work to fruition ( (I Cor. 15:58)

4.) By his living presence, he gives us the abundant life –a full life.

He would unify our efforts and command our very best because he is alive and with us, we should be encouraged to abstain from that which is evil. We should be more bold in attempting that which is difficult to do. We can receive comfort from him in times of sorrow, through his Holy Spirit.

Our living Savior offers the gift of eternal life now. Jesus said: “I have come that they might have life, and that they might have it in all of its fullness (abundant life). (John 10:10)

He is able to save completely all who come to him by faith and he offers to us eternal life, if we just receive him as our Lord and Savior.

But let’s not limit ourselves to just knowing him as our Savior, but life. experience the fullness of His Spirit. Make him Lord of your

Nobleton Community Church
March 31, 2024
Matthew 28:1-10
Pastor Paul V Lehmann

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