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Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.
Somebody once defined an excuse as the skin of a reason. stuffed with a lie. That's a great definition. The skin of a reason stuffed with a lie. There's a difference between a reason and an excuse.
Police officers know the difference. When they pull people over and they say, you know, you were doing 20 miles over the speed limit. You'd be amazed at what police officers hear. One guy said, Officer, I just bought new steel-toed shoes. And the reason.
That I'm speeding, it must weigh more on the pedal, like his foot isn't connected somehow to that boot. Another person claimed road rage. Not his, but someone else's, that he was trying quickly to get away from the person who had the road rage, and so he was speeding. But the best The best. was an officer pulled a lady over who said, here's her reason.
She said, It's a shopping emergency. She wanted to get her Christmas shopping done by a certain time, and she was racing to the store.
So, of course, the police officer gave her a little gift. called a traffic ticket. The disciples of Jesus Christ We're in a room. Behind closed, even locked. Doors.
And they had a reason. They were afraid. It says in our text, for fear. of the Jews. After all, That door could swing open at any moment.
The temple police could rush in. What they had done to their Lord and Savior, they might just do to those followers who were behind closed doors. They might be next, they might be killed.
So they had An excuse. that they called a reason. I wonder. What is Our excuse. What is the Christian's excuse for staying behind closed doors of the church and not getting out?
and telling people about Jesus. Whatever it is, I submit to you. It's an excuse and not a reason. George Barna is a researcher. He looks at the life of human beings, Americans, and even churches, and he's discovered that in almost every church that he has studied.
There's always only A small group of people that are passionate about reaching the lost. We have a small group. goes out witnessing, they learn about evangelism, but In such a large church, like Barna said, it's just a very small group. that is passionate about reaching the loss. And so Barna asked this question in his research.
He says, Have people in the church gotten the vision to reach Unbelievers. Then he answers it by saying this: if not, If not, that organization is not truly a church. It's just a group of people intrigued with religion.
Well, that is convicting to me, and the last thing I want to become is a group of people that's intrigued. with religion. Intrigued with the fine points of this doctrine and that doctrine when a world out there. hasn't heard. Really heard.
Get this. This may surprise you. I hope it shocks you. One survey found that 89% of Of church members, 89% believe that the main purpose of the church is, quote, to meet my needs. and the needs of my family, close quote.
89%. That's the purpose of the church to meet my needs and the needs of my family. Only 11%. Percent. Said, the purpose of the church is to win the world to Christ.
So that gives you a little bit of a scoreboard of what we're dealing with. In terms of Christendom.
So, I have a few questions, and we'll find that they're answered really in the text. How do we move from fear to courage? How do we discover what God's intention is for us? as individuals and corporately as a church. And perhaps even a Greater question that All of us can relate to is how do I do the work God has called me to do, His work.
and not get burned out. How do I keep doing this day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, without sort of losing the passion? And getting burned out. The answer is found in our text, and it's divided up, it's in your worship folder, into three divisions. An expression of peace.
Number one, Jesus promises them that in verse 19. the experience of purpose he gives them a commission. And finally, the enabling of power. Go back with me to verse 19 and look at this expression that Jesus gives to them. 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, Jesus came and stood in the midst. and said to them, Peace be with you. You'll notice the word is shut. Clio in Greek. It means to not only be shut, but it implies being locked and barred.
So just get the picture, these brave, courageous disciples behind. Barred, locked. Doors. I don't blame them. Um If I was in their sandals, not knowing what We know we would probably feel the same way.
Now we're worthy. What room were they locked in? We don't know that, but my guess is the upper room where they had the Passover. That's the place where they were hanging out in Jerusalem. It's the place that was afforded to them.
That's probably where they went. They went back to the upper room where they had Passover, closed the doors, barred them, locked them. hoping nobody would come.
So now here's a question. If the doors are locked, Are the doors locked? The door shut? How did Jesus get in? Boy, you would be amazed at the answers that liberal commentators who do not believe in a resurrection say.
Some say he climbed into the window. That's creative. Others say that he slid down the roof.
Somehow. Others say he knocked on the door. Jesus Just appeared And I know that because other versions of the Bible, in transmitting this, will say Jesus. Suddenly. appeared.
He suddenly appeared.
Now, that doesn't surprise you if you believe in a resurrection, if Jesus can ascend through. Undisturbed grave clothes and get out of a tomb. What's a wall? No big deal. And the reason this is fun.
Is because if you ever wondered what your body is going to act like and be like once it's resurrected, you have a pretty good picture in studying the accounts of Jesus' resurrected body. Jesus had a physical body, a real body, a solid body. He ate fish. He told people to touch and see that he had flesh and bones. At the same time, he could move from one place to another almost instantaneously, covering a great deal of ground.
And number two, though he had a solid body, it seems that he could Move in and out of places, even with walls, that this new resurrected body didn't have the limitations. of time and space and nature. that we now have.
So I look at this as a preview of coming attractions for us.
Okay. Jesus stood in their midst and said, Peace to you. What was the first reaction? Of the disciples in that room. And it's not joy.
It becomes that, and the text records that. But you need to sort of compare all of the accounts of the post-resurrection events together, and you discover, well, it's put in Matthew or in Luke chapter 24. It says Jesus showed up. In the room and said, Peace unto you. And this is what Luke records.
The disciples were terrified. terrified. frightened and they thought they'd seen a ghost.
Now that's good theology, isn't it? Can't be a resurrection. It's got to be a ghost.
So their first response wasn't, haw, it was ah. Which again, I do not fault them for. I'm not on some high pedestal saying that they should have said yes, of course, we expected it. Let me give you a little bit of an insight. Into what the emotion might have been like.
these disciples. Here's a real life experience. About 20 years ago, at the height of Operation Desert Storm in the Gulf War. A woman by the name of Ruth Dillow received a piece of communication from the Pentagon, a very sad statement that said her son Clayton stepped on a landmine in Kuwait. and was killed.
He he exploded. He's dead. She writes I cannot begin to describe my grief and my shock. It was almost more than I could bear. For three days, I just wept.
I expressed anger. Loss, and for three days people tried to comfort me, but nothing worked. The loss was simply too great. After three days. She got another message.
A phone call. She picked up the phone. Mom? It's me. It's Clayton.
I'm alive. The message the Pentagon sent. was a wrong message. Her son, that she thought was dead for three days, was now alive, and she continues to write: I laughed, I cried, I felt like turning cartwheels. Because my son, who I thought was dead, was actually alive.
Now, that's a little bit of what those followers of Christ must have felt. For three days, they thought he was dead. He's dead. John witnessed the bloody mess.
Now, all of a sudden, he's there going, Peace. to you. There was a mixture, a churning of emotions. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition. Before we return to today's message, have you ever struggled to study the Bible consistently?
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Now, let's get back to today's message from Pastor Skip. What I really love is the first word out of Jesus' mouth. What is it? Peace. Shalom in Hebrew.
If you go to Israel today, they say hi to you, shalom. When they say goodbye to you, shalom. When they ask you how you're doing, they ask, mashlomcha. And you gotta go, ha. And that means literally, how is your peace?
What is the state of your peace? It's a common greeting. I love that it's the first word out of Jesus' mouth. There's no rebuke in Jesus' voice. There's no rebuff in his words.
He didn't say, You. Bunch of sissies, scared, locked behind closed doors. First of all, you ran away, you fled, you forsook me, Peter, you denied me. You bunch of flakes. None of that.
Jesus is Peace to you. I love that. Psalm 103 says. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us. According to our iniquities.
Peace. And you got to know something. When Jesus said peace, it was not just shalom. It was not just like, dude, peace. This was not a greeting.
This is the real stuff. He is promising peace because he has died on the cross, risen from the dead, shows them the wounds in his hands, not only to identify himself, but say, peace. Here's how you have peace with God. See these wounds? It's what I went through to ensure a relationship as possible between God in heaven and you on earth.
Peace. It's the real stuff. It's what he promised back in John 14, verse 27: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives. Let not your heart be troubled.
Neither let it be afraid. That's the piece. Because a living Saviour Has granted it to them.
Now look in verse 20. Then Then The disciples were glad when they saw The Lord.
So they go. From fear. To joy. Because the living Savior promises them peace. God promises you peace.
Jesus offers you today peace. and your fears cannot lock him out.
So, rather than cower in the corner and be immobilized and do nothing. Jesus would say to you, Peace. Confidence. One of the greatest reasons that people do not open their mouths and share the gospel with people is fear. That's the biggest one.
It's probably the biggest one. The Billy Graham Association, of course, Billy Graham has been preaching crusades for his whole life, his whole career. He had an associate evangelist by the name of Leighton Ford who would travel with him, an associate evangelist who would sometimes preach, but also teach. And Leighton Ford would sometimes teach these things called Christian life and witness courses. And before a crusade, he's telling people how to do it.
But he would always ask the question to his audience. What's your biggest hindrance? in witnessing to people. And he would write down the findings. He took a survey, basically, of his audience.
This is what he discovered. Typically, About 9% of his audience. said the biggest hindrance to me witnessing Is that I forget to do it. I'm just so busy, I honestly forget to do it. It's a small percentage.
That is, people kind of go through their lives in the day, they sort of forget, oh, yeah, I'm a Christian. And oh, yeah, I have a task, but they're just so busy. 9% said, I just don't think about it. 12% said, My life doesn't speak like it should speak, therefore, I lack that authority. 28% of the crowd typically will say, I don't think I have the right information.
When I'm asked a question. But fifty-one percent. 51% said, My greatest hindrance to sharing my faith is I'm just afraid of their reaction once I tell them. I'm afraid.
So The first is the expression of peace. Jesus promises them peace, confidence. Don't cower behind the doors in fear. Peace to you. Look at the very next phrase, and it's the next division of the text.
It's the experience of purpose. Verse 21, Jesus said to them, Again, peace to you. Here it is. As the Father has sent me. I also Send you.
He didn't just offer them peace, he now offers them purpose. I've been sent on a mission. From God. I'm sending you on a mission. As the Father sent me, so I send you.
Now I want to dispel a myth. The myth is that evangelism is to be done by the professionals.
Well, if you're an evangelist or a pastor or you're on staff, those are the people that we pay to do it.
So go do it. The problem with that theory is when Jesus said, as the Father sent me, so send I you. The people in that room, you know what? They weren't just apostles. They weren't just apostles.
Apostles were there. Ten of them were there. Judas, he's out of the picture. Thomas is absent when Jesus showed up the first time.
So he's not there. Other disciples, just run of the mill followers, two on the road to Emmaus that Jesus spoke to, Clopas was one of them. They were in that room, according to Luke, and there were the women who visited the tomb early that day. They were also in the room. All sorts of people who have followed Jesus in some capacity, not just official ones, that Jesus says to.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Moreover, They had failed the Lord, these apostles. They had failed the Lord, they had run away, they had fled. Peter denied.
So here is Jesus turning to failed workers saying, I'm giving you a do-over. A ministry do-over. I know you've blown it. You have not been great witnesses. You're kind of like behind closed doors.
You're scared, but. Those days are over. Peace to you, as the Father has sent me, so I send you. Every single believer is given the wonderful mandate responsibility. to bear the message to the world.
Think of it this way. We Take Christ Place in this world. We're called the body of Christ. Jesus was here, commissioned us, left, and he gave the job to us. We represent him.
We are then the continuation of his ministry. When Luke wrote volume two, the book of Acts, this is how he began. He says, The former treatise that I wrote to you, O Theophilus, of all the Jesus. began both to do and to teach until the day he was taken up. In other words, A Theophilus, when I wrote to you the Gospel of Luke, I was writing to you about what Jesus started.
Now, I'm writing to you about what Jesus continues to do and to teach. How does he do and teach it? How does he do and teach it? If he's not here, how does he do it? Through us.
What he started, he continues through the people. I want you to think of something. This is noteworthy. Maybe it's a revelation for some of you. Did you know that never once.
In the scripture, did Jesus ever tell? unbelievers to go to church. He never stood out to the crowd and said, Oh, and by the way, You better go to church. Never tells them that. Never tells any worldly person to go to church, not once.
But boy did he tell the church to go to the world. It's called the Great Commission. Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. That's our wonderful Mandate. and responsibility.
One Christian leader noted that Christians are like a lot of people with colds sitting around sneezing at one another. And nobody gets it because we've already got it. That's just a great picture. A sad but great picture. We get together and we're in our little Christian cubicle on our Christian island.
We sneeze at each other and sneeze at each other. Nobody gets infected. Because we've already got it. The danger. of even a healthy church is when the healthy church begins to turn inward and all the activities become solely for the purpose of members, like the eighty nine percent who said the purpose of the church is to meet my needs and my family's needs.
I call that a bless me club. A bless me club. Church is the only organization, it's the only outfit that exists for the benefit of non-believers. J C Ryle said, The highest form of selfishness is for a man who's content to go to heaven alone. I would agree.
Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, don't forget to request this month's featured resource, How to Study the Bible and Enjoy It. This book from Pastor Skip offers practical, encouraging help to take your Bible study deeper and get more out of every verse. It's our thanks for your generous gift of $50 or more to help share God's Word with more people. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskiff.com slash offer.
and be sure to sign up for weekly devotionals and get your free one-sheet how to approach studying the Bible. It's a great tool to jumpstart your time in Scripture. We'll see you next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect the Skiff-Heitzit Weekend Edition. Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the crossing.
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