Easter - Part 2

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ.

How did this all happen? They did not believe the whole counsel of God. They did not believe it so they were in total despair.

They picked and chose what they wanted to believe about the Word of God. And I hate to say this, but you and I do this all the time. We pick and choose the scriptures that we believe or don't believe. Sometimes we may not know, but often we know and we don't care anyway. We just don't. And then we end up in despair. You see, then we become depressed. Then we're looking for antidepressants.

Then we're looking for any way to numb us because I'm so sad and I'm so miserable in my life. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. Jesus responds, O foolish man, slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

He diagnoses their problem. What's their problem? They don't believe it. I don't believe it. I don't believe what the prophet said. You see, you might say, well, I don't even know I think what the prophet said. I just pick and choose what I want, a lot like we do.

I just pick and choose the passages I like and I'll leave the rest go. Jesus said, no, you can't do that. He said, was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory? Jesus said, don't you know anything about me being Savior?

Don't you know anything about you don't know anything about this? Verse 27, one of my favorite in the entire New Testament. Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself and all the scriptures. Greatest Bible study ever done. Maybe an hour and a half, two hours walking with Jesus and he explains from Genesis to Malachi everything that the Old Testament says about him.

I couldn't even imagine that. He just starts. He starts in Genesis three, the first prophecy of the Bible, verse 15, Adam and Eve have sinned and he says the first prophecy that the seed of the woman is going to be the destruction of the evil one.

You'll bruise him on his hill crucifixion, but he'll take you out. He goes on to Genesis six through eight Noah's Ark. Peter writes that the true ark of safety is Jesus Christ. That's what the ark was.

How do I avoid the judgment of God? The ark. Genesis eight after he gets off the ark was the first thing that Abraham I mean, excuse me, that Noah does. First thing he does sacrifice to God. In other words, I may be delivered through the ark, but because of my sin, something's going to have to die. Genesis 22, Abraham offers up his own son Isaac. Jesus is like, what do you think that's about? God the father offering me up. Exodus 12, the Passover lamb. The way you would deliver from the angel of death was under the blood of the Passover lamb. He said, yeah, that's a picture of me.

Leviticus one to seven, all of the different kind of offerings they made, all five of them. He said, those all refer to me. Deuteronomy 18, Moses prophesies a prophet who's going to come. That's me, he said. He said, where were you on Friday?

They were probably nearby. How about Psalm 22? My God, why have you forsaken me? And a description of his agony. Didn't you hear me cry that out in the dark for three hours?

You didn't hear it? That's me. David wrote about me. Psalm 69, you heard me say I thirst. That was written a thousand years before the event. Isaiah 52 and 53, my servant.

I mean, listen to what Isaiah wrote. Surely our griefs he himself bore. He bear our griefs and our sorrows and he carried them. He is stricken and smitten of God and afflicted, pierced through for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities.

The chastening for our wellbeing fell on him. And by his scourging, we are healed. And all of us like sheep have gone astray.

Each has turned his own way. And the Lord has laid the iniquity of us all on him. He said, that's me on Isaiah.

Guess the Zechariah 12, 10. One day Israel will look to him whom they had pierced. That's me. He goes the whole way through the Old Testament and says, that's me, that's me, that's me, that's me, that's me. And that's me, the savior.

I'm a half the suffer. I am the lamb of God. Just what John the Baptist said when he inaugurated his ministry. Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of all. That's me.

Amazing. Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained himself as he went through the scriptures and he finished and it says they approached the village where they were going and he acted as though he were going to go further. But they urged them and they said, stay with us for it is getting toward evening and the day is now nearly over. And so he went and he stayed with them.

Now, what's this next verse? And when he had reclined at the table with them, he took bread and he blessed it and breaking and he began giving it to them. Nobody does that. That would be considered extraordinarily bad manners.

The Near East culture has so much to do with hospitality. Nobody does that. You don't get invited into someone's home and then you break the bread.

That's the host job. Jesus just takes over and does it. Now he's done it many times before and I'm guessing these guys have seen it. And so then he starts breaking the bread and he gives it to them. Now watch. Then their eyes were opened.

Again, it's a passive verb by God. Their eyes were opened and they recognized them. And he vanished from the site. He's just gone. Wow.

What an event. Now, how they recognize him, the way he handled the bread, maybe that. Maybe that's part of it. Maybe they saw his hands and they realized the marks that were on his hands. But they recognize him. And then as soon as they recognize him, it says he vanished from their site. He's gone. Now, if that had happened to you, what would you do if you were talking to your friend?

Be honest. Did you see that? Did you see that? As soon as we knew it was him, he was gone.

I mean, he just vanished. Did you see that? They didn't say anything like that. Here's what they did say. They said to one another, were not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us on the road while he was explaining the scriptures to us? When he taught us God's word, my heart was burning. That's what they talked about. It was a teaching of God's Old Testament to them that made their hearts burn. Not that they saw him vanish. What an amazing thing that is.

What power it gives you for the idea of the word of God. Then it says, and they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem and found gathered together the 11 and those who were with them back to them group. How long do you think it'd take them to get back to Jerusalem? Now, running, it's a seven-mile run. It's the end of a long day, but I imagine they ran most of the way, but a couple more hours.

It's got to be nighttime by the time they get there, but they're running back. They were saying that the Lord had really risen and that he appeared. He did appear to Simon Peter, and they began to relate, notice their experiences on the road and how he was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread. They taught the guys what Jesus taught them.

I couldn't even hardly imagine what they're doing. Cleopas might go first and say, wait, he said this out of Genesis, and then his friend would say, no, there was more. He said, let's just keep telling them all the stuff that Jesus taught us so that you can see all of this material, how this really works.

That would have done it, wouldn't it? You're in that room. The women go and come back and tell you what they had seen. Peter and John, very highly esteemed disciples, come back and told you what they saw. Now these two men who were skeptical and in total despair, they come back and tell you, Jesus walked with us for an hour and a half, two hours teaching us, and then he just vanished after he did it. How would you feel about that? Would it finally break through to you?

Well, consider what we're like as humans. While they were telling these things, he himself stood in their midst and he said, peace be to you. Now we know from the other accounts, he didn't use the door. He just walked through the wall and stood there and said, peace be to you. Now with all that, how would you respond? Don't think that highly of yourself because he says, but they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit or a ghost. Oh no, look, what is that?

I'm telling you, it just came through the wall. Remember, these are the 11 and the most of our followers Jesus has. He said to them, why are you troubled? And why do you, he said, do doubts. He said, arise in your hearts. Why don't you believe?

It's easy. Dead people stay dead. That's a fundamental belief.

People who are dead stay dead. He said, see my hands and my feet that it is, he said that it is I myself. Touch me and see for the spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. Touch me. These are the marks from the crucifixion.

Just touch me and you'll know I'm not a spirit. Apparently, they still weren't convinced. And so when he had said this, he showed them the hands and his feet. Well, they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement.

It seems too good to be true. He said to them, you have anything to eat. It's just kind of funny to me. He got something to eat. Here's why he says it. When they gave him a piece of boiling fish and he took it and he ate it before them. Ghosts don't eat physical food.

Finally, he's like, hey, I'm telling you, I saw the fish go in. He ate it. It can't be just the spirit coming through the wall. He went through the wall, right? But he ate it.

It's his glorified body. Now watch. Now he said to them, these are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you that all things which are written about me in the law, he said of Moses and the prophets in the Psalms got to be fulfilled. Guys, I told you this. I told you I was going to rise from the dead. And I told you that everything from Genesis to Malachi is important and will take place.

I told you this. And then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. Supernaturally acted and he said to them, thus it is written that Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead on the third day and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name and all the nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to these things.

Wow. How did this all happen? They did not believe the whole counsel of God. They did not believe it so they were in total despair.

They picked and chose what they wanted to believe about the word of God. And I hate to say this but you and I do this all the time. We pick and choose the scriptures that we believe or don't believe. Sometimes we may not know but often we know we don't care anyway. We just don't. And then we end up in despair. You see, then we become depressed. Then we're looking for antidepressants. Then we're looking for any way to numb us because I'm so sad and I'm so miserable in my life. But that doesn't even make sense because Jesus said in John 10, I've come to give you life and to give it to you abundantly.

A life full of joy and peace and hope. You see, we should be extraordinarily happy. Extraordinarily. And you say, okay, he said that but how do I know that that will take place?

Real easy. He's risen from the dead. You see, he's alive.

That's how. You see, how can I know that his words are really going to... He's alive. He raised from the dead. It's the basis of our faith. And it's interesting that a lot of Christians believe that part but don't believe the rest. And then they end up miserable. Partial knowledge and belief of the word of God is disastrous in your life. When you only partially believe the Bible, I can tell you for sure you're going to be miserable. It's just the way it happens. I've done an awful lot of marriage counseling over the years and seen couples save their marriages and see people lose their marriages.

But it's really interesting. They'll come in and by the way, marriage is a wonderful thing but there's nothing on earth that can make you more miserable than a bad marriage. I often say to them, it's the closest thing you ever see to heaven and the closest thing you ever see to hell on earth. And the reason for it is as Chuck Swindoll said, marriage is two porcupines on a cold night. We aggravate each other. We sin against each other.

Then we start accumulating all of that. Then there's bitterness that comes in and sometimes much worse. I've dealt with an awful lot of worse things, abuse, adultery, all those kind of things. And so when they come in, they say, how could we ever move forward?

And I always say, well, what does the Bible say? First, let me tell you what he did. The Bible says you are to forgive one another just as Christ has forgiven you. What?

Yeah, just like it. How's he forgiven you? Are there any sins he won't forgive you for? Oh, no, no. He's forgiven me for anything.

It's wonderful. You're to forgive him or her just like Christ has forgiven you. That's what the Bible says.

How often should I do that? I said, Jesus said 70 times seven, an infinite amount of time. What? That's what Jesus said. I don't want to believe that. You say, I don't want to believe that. I'm not going to listen to that. Okay, don't.

How about this? God said in Malachi, I hate divorce. So how do you feel about it? Well, that's God. That's not me. I mean, Jesus said if you do divorce somebody except for one single reason and you marry another, you'd commit adultery. That's what Jesus said. Well, not really.

See, what's the point? I believe in a lot of, if I asked those people, do you believe Christ died for your sins? Absolutely.

Do you believe Christ was raised from dead? Absolutely. Do you believe that this is true about your marriage? No, I don't think so.

But it is. You see, and what do you reap then? You sow that kind of idea, what do you reap? Misery. I've seen other couples that have offered their forgiveness. They have sinned against each other and destroyed their marriage in ways you can't even imagine. And yet they offer each other forgiveness and now years later, even decades later, they're still happily married.

Why? They did what the Bible said. You see, it's not like God is trying to test you. He's actually trying to bless you by doing the right thing. He speaks on these things. So many of us are in so much despair and I'd ask you just to ask yourself the question, am I in despair because I'm ignoring the word of God?

Has God spoken to this? I mean, just think of this. James writes, consider it all joy when your life becomes a pile of crap. Oh, he said it this way. Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials.

Is that what you do? Hey, hey, this is really bad. I'm ready for it. Why? Because God said it will be for your benefit. You'll mature through this.

We don't, do we? Romans 8, 28, all things will work together for your good. Not this. Can't happen. That can't be.

I'm miserable. You see, what they did is they looked at the circumstances, these men, and they had a dead Messiah. Even though the Bible had clear that he's not a dead Messiah, he's a Messiah that will die and rise from the dead. And he will pay the penalty of sin for all of us. And that's what we end up doing.

We just partially select things. When Jesus said, I've come to give you life and give it to you abundantly, I really believe this. You'll never get there if you don't know and believe the whole counsel of God.

You'll just never get there. Because it's only thing that really matters is what has God said about this subject. And I get how hard this is. It's amazingly difficult.

Why? Because it's so painful. I mean, none of us want to volunteer to suffer. None of us want to go through a lot of pain, but we all do. One way or another, life is painful on this planet. And so I know that this is hard for us, but not impossible.

Why? Happy Easter. Happy Easter. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. He's alive. Wow.

Not only the difference between where my destination is when I die, but it has a great deal of difference of how do I cope in this life with what I'm going through? How do I do that? Jesus says, I got it. Just listen to me.

Trust me. You see, that's what he says. That's the ticket for us.

We got to do that. One of the great things about being a Christian, I've told you this over the years. One, the worst thing that could happen to you, can't happen to you.

Secondly, I read the end of the book, you win. You see, that's a very important thing. No matter what happens, you win. You'll be absent from the body. You'll be present with the Lord. There's no more sorrow, no more tears. There's no more sin.

There is an eternity of blessing that awaits you. You see, that's what's so great about Easter. Happy Easter means my life has purpose and meaning now and my life is forever because it was risen from the dead.

The next time someone says, Happy Easter, just ask them, what do you mean by that? You might be able to give an account for the hope that's in you, Jesus Christ our Lord. Let's pray. Father, what a great day it is. Just because we all stop and remember the most important thing about being a believer in Jesus Christ, he is risen. Paul tells us if he has not risen, there's no point to our faith at all.

What an important thing to let us know. I pray, Father, that we understand that if we're going to live our lives out as sinful people on a cursed planet, we're going to have to listen to what you say to how we cope. Father, I pray for us who conveniently forget certain portions of your word in order to maintain the misery that we find ourselves in.

There's no need for that. Father, we need to trust in your word. We need to understand that you have given us enough revelation in order to live a victorious life here and now. I pray that we do so for our good and for your glory.

In Christ's name, amen. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts, or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called oneplace.com. That's oneplace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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