FBC Earlville, N.Y. , Rev. Jeremy B. Stopford, Pastor

TODAY’S “SPECIAL”: “Two Turkey Funnies”

#1: A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but couldn’t find one big enough for her family.
She asked a stock boy, “Do these turkeys get any bigger?”
The stock boy replied, “No ma’am, they’re dead.”

#2: An industrious turkey farmer was always experimenting with breeding to perfect a better turkey.
His family was fond of the legs for dinner and there were never enough for everyone. After many frustrating attempts, the farmer was relating the results of his efforts to his friends at the general store get together: “Well I finally did it. I bred a turkey that has 6 legs!”
They all asked the farmer how it tasted.
“I don’t know,” said the farmer. “I could never catch the thing!”

INTRODUCTION

The unnamed psalmist in Psalm 116:17 writes, “I will sacrifice a thank offering to You and call on the name of the Lord.” In our NKJV (and similar to KJV) it reads, “I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord.” The phrases “thank offering” and “sacrifice of thanksgiving” are quite connected. They imply an offering that has no earthly value. They imply an offering which financially cost the giver absolutely nothing. But an offering must cost the giver something, right? So what is the cost? The cost is the acknowledgement that the Lord Himself is the Giver of all that we have. The offering – the sacrifice of thanksgiving – is the returning to the Lord what He already owns, the recognition that He is the Provider of all that we have. THAT is why it is a “sacrifice”! It is our humblement – as a fellow college student used to call it – to admit that for what the Lord has given only He deserves the praise and thanks for that gift.
Let’s look at some of those things which caused the author of this psalm to offer such a sacrifice. And, in turn, may these prod our hearts to a spirit of thanksgiving as well. PRAYER

1. The intimacy with the Lord (v. 1)

This is huge! The psalmist admits to a personal acquaintance with the living God! It was so personal that he had absolutely no uncertainty that when he prayed, the Lord heard. Not only did God hear his prayer, He also heard his cry for mercy. “Mercy” is the calling out for help that one does not deserve. In light of the cross, it is the Savior taking upon Himself the sacrifice that we deserve because of our sin. Mercy.
So why is this huge? It is huge because of the intimacy. The psalmist had an open book before the Lord. Nothing was hidden between the Savior and he. And the psalmist knew, he KNEW FOR CERTAIN, that not only did the Lord hear, but He answered the psalmist’s cry for help for which he was not worthy.
Do you share that intimacy with the Lord? Is your relationship with Him personal, or is it so shallow that there is uncertainty in your faith that God even hears your cries? Listen to Psalm 55:17, “Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.” Intimacy – the Lord has designed it to last all day long! Do we enjoy it all day long?

2. The Lord preserves the simple. WHEN? (v. 6)

The psalmist recognizes that he cannot fake his walk with the Lord. His walk is not to be high-minded but, literally simple or “simplehearted.” Let’s look at the many times when the psalmist saw God’s preserving hand:

A. Tough times (v.3). You and I may not face too many “death defying” issues too often. Those are the toughest of times. The times which, as the psalmist writes, “entangle” him. He feels strangled, wondering “WHEN will this end?” Isn’t it refreshing the open honesty of this writer?
But “tough times” don’t necessarily have to be “death defying”, do they? They can also be those times when you are awaiting the proverbial “light at the end of the tunnel” and that light seems to never come. You’ve been there. I’ve been there. Tough times. “I was overcome by trouble and sorrow,” he writes. Isn’t it nice to know that we are not alone in the things that come our way?

B. When the soul is low (v. 4). Closely related to verse 3 is when the soul is low. How low? It is so low that he calls out to the Lord for deliverance! “Lord save me!”
Aren’t you glad that books like “Jonah” are in the Good Book? Listen to the opening words of Jonah 2. These are Jonah’s recordings of his wrestling with the Lord after being swallowed by the great fish. He wrote, (vs. 1-4), “Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. And he said:
“I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and He answered me.
“Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice. For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me. Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’”
These are the written recordings of when the soul is low. Now I don’t think too many of us will find ourselves in the belly of another great fish prepared by the Lord for you or me. But the situations of life may feel that way.
And it is then when the Lord preserves the simple!

C. When God’s grace, righteousness, and compassion are on display (v. 5)
Have you ever read Ephesians 3:10? It reads, “ to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places”. Wasn’t that great? OK, so I’ve taken it out of context. Let’s listen to it from The Message, “Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!”
So when are God’s grace, righteousness, and compassion on display? When the angels look down on us. What are they thinking when they see us? Well, they know that they have been redeemed for eternity. The good angels will always belong to the Heavenly Father. Always. They did not have to pay for that ownership. They were given it by choice, when they chose to follow Him rather than the devil when he fell from heaven.
But they remember what we were like before we came to the cross! They remember what we were like before we trusted Jesus as Savior! And they look at us as we sit in our churches and offer praise to the living Lord. And they marvel, perhaps thinking, “HOW could the Lord have done that with creatures who were without God and without hope? HOW?”
God’s grace, righteousness, and compassion are on display though us every day. Wow. The Lord preserves the simple, and puts us on display!

3. The Lord keeps the soul at rest (v. 7)

Remember the words of our Lord Jesus in Matthew 11:28? He said, “Come unto Me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
I like this verse. It tells me to “come to Jesus”. It says to come and find that He alone is worthy of my eternal as well as my daily trust. He is worthy of my eternal trust, for He alone was qualified to die for my sins at Calvary. He is the only sinless Savior. There is no other. He is worthy of my daily trust, for He is the Good Shepherd! He doesn’t say, “come to My Church” or “come to My religion.” He says, “come to Me.” The Lord keeps the soul at rest.
And when the Lord gives the soul rest, the psalmist says that His bounty is on display! He has been good to us!
And in giving the soul rest, the Lord gives daily deliverance to walk before Him in the land of the living! Look at verses 8-9. The Lord loves to deliver His children: from death, from tears, from stumbling, all so that we may walk with Him right where He has wisely placed us.
But He gives rest in one more area. Look at the classic verse 15, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” Perhaps you’ve heard this quoted at a funeral. How on earth can the psalmist combine the two words “precious” and “death”? Because the psalmist is looking by faith at what the one who has passed away is now looking at by sight! The psalmist is seeing by faith that the promises of God have come true to the one whose soul has found rest in the Lord alone.
Have you found that eternal rest? Have you found that daily rest?

Conclusion

So what does a “sacrifice of thanksgiving” look like?
Permit me to close with the reading of a portion of a recent thanksgiving encouragement sent by Dr. Michael Peck:
““Do you think we’ve remembered everything?” Dustin asked his exhausted wife. “I don’t know, but it is too late now to worry about it!” Liz replied. The family was flying across the country to be with Dusty’s family for the Thanksgiving holiday. “You know, Honey,” Liz said quietly, “after all the extra hours you crammed into your work so that you would be able to get away for a few days, after all the expenses to make the trip, after the late night packing and the early morning rising, knowing the lines at the airport, going through security, and everything else, I am not feeling so very thankful at the minute.” Just then Liz’s phone dinged, so she silently read it. “It’s a text from your mom. Let me read it to us. ‘Dusty and Liz, it’s the middle of the night still here. I am crying as I text. I am coming before His presence with thanksgiving and making a joyful noise unto Him. Giving great thanksgiving because in five hours I will get to hug my grandchildren and you folks, too. I am such a thankful Grandma. Love you.’”
THAT is a sacrifice of thanksgiving! When a Grandma looks “outside the box”, the circumstances of all the effort, and sees the Lord’s hand of grace, righteousness, and compassion on display through the events of her life.
THAT is a sacrifice of thanksgiving! When a family comes to realize what true thanksgiving really looks like.
THAT is a sacrifice of thanksgiving! When you and I say, “Father, I am unworthy of Your kindnesses toward me. I return to you what You have given to me. I return to you my thanks.”
Have you remembered “the sacrifice of thanksgiving” this Thanksgiving? It begins at the cross. It continues every day in a living walk with the living Lord. And it will continue one day when we are preciously in His presence!
Have you offered “the sacrifice of thanksgiving” today?

Close in prayer

Pastor Jeremy and Thuvia Stopford

“DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!” (Mark 16)

Closing Message – “Gospel of Mark” Series

Jeremy B. Stopford, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Earlville, NY

TODAY’S “SPECIAL”: “A Pun or Two”

Snow in November happens because people prematurely decorate for Christmas!

What do you call dental x-rays? Tooth pics!

When I was little my mom used to feed me alphabet soup claiming I’d love it. I didn’t really – she was just putting words in my mouth.

Did you hear about the accident at Lenscrafters? A new tech got his hand caught in the lens grinder. Injuries were minor, but he really made a spectacle of himself!

Once upon a time there were two mice who lived in a museum. One evening after the museum had closed, the first mouse crawled into a huge suit of armor. Before he knew it, he was lost. “Help! Help!” He shouted to his friend. “Help me make it through the knight.”

INTRODUCTION

If last week was “Good Friday”, then today – Mark 16 – must be Resurrection Sunday. Yes, it is Easter once again. Only please, one last time, do not be confused with this notation in our NIV which say that “these verses are not in the original text.” We should know by now that the NIV was not based upon the same text from which we get our KJV and NKJV. The NIV was based upon an older, but unfortunately obviously not as reliable, text. The end result is that sometimes it must come up with such observations.

But please don’t allow such observations to detract us to the magnitude of the message of the first Resurrection Sunday! There are many wonderful tidbits here. And there are glimpses that Mark wonderfully includes that make his narrative a treasure. Let’s go find them this morning! PRAYER

A. AN INTERESTING TIDBIT FROM MARK 16

Angels! Did you know that over 290 times in the Bible, angels are mentioned? So obviously the subject is important to the Lord. Brace yourself – whenever an angel is identified, the angel is always identified as being male. There are NO female angels identified in Scripture. None!

Angels play a very important part in the resurrection story. Depending upon the witness, there were either one or two angels at the empty tomb. In Mark 16:5, the angel in Mark’s account is interestingly described as “a young man”. We know from other accounts that he is an angel. However, isn’t it neat to see that God is very detailed in describing this angel as being “young”? So God does not limit the age – at least the appearance of age – in His servants.

Are there angels today? Well, of course! I walked into the house the other day and a voice from the kitchen said, “is that you, angel?” Hmm. She knows! But I can prove to you without a doubt that there are angels today. First of all, the scriptures – Hebrews 1 in particular – say that angels are “ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will become the heirs of salvation.” Yes, you and I have guardian angels – or better, “ministering angels.” We may not be aware of them by sight, but by faith we can trust the Lord that they are there. So to say “my angel must be watching over me,” or “My angel must be working overtime today” may not be irreverent statements!

Second, there is a classic passage in 2 Kings 6. A student of the prophet Elisha and he found them surrounded by the enemy forces. The student was concerned as to what they were to do, and he was quite frightened. Elisha in typical fashion allays the young man’s fears: “there are more of us than there are of them!” Elisha then prays for the disciple’s eyes to be open. And they are! He sees that they are surrounded by the hosts of the Lord – all with drawn swords. Do we have that sense of the presence of the Lord at all times?

But third, I would like to prove to you by way of a demonstration. I need a volunteer. (one should come forward). Now hold still. Don’t move. OK, here goes. (I’ll put my arms on his/her shoulder). There! You have just been touched by an angel! Me! See – angels ARE real today! The actual definition of the word “angel” is “messenger, one who has been sent”. So if you are a messenger of the good news that Jesus loves you, then, well, by the authority of scripture even you are an angel – just like me!

B. MARK’S GLIMPSES OF THE RESURRECTION

Mark 16 is by far the shortest of the four gospels’ resurrection accounts. So Mark gives us what I call “glimpses” of the story. He tells us of the eyewitnesses – the 3 ladies who saw where the Savior was buried are the first to be at the tomb Sunday morning. Mary Magdalene is mentioned, verse 9, and we are given a reminder of her being the one out of whom the Savior had driven seven demons. John (chapter 20) gives us an extended narrative of her encounter with the resurrected Savior.

In Mark 16:12, Mark shares about the 2 men who were walking on the road to Emmaus. Luke 24 gives us their extended conversation with the Lord Jesus. But note please the way Mark words it: “Jesus appeared in a different form”. In these two stories, the ones Jesus was with did not recognize Him at first. For Mary, His tender voice gave Him away. For the two on the road, it was His familiar prayer of benediction over a meal. The Apostle Paul picked up on this. In our KJV in Phil. 2:5-8 are Paul’s classic words:

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

Did you notice? “Who being in the form of God” (v. 6) and “taking the form of a bondservant” (v. 7). That is the very theme of Mark! Remember Mark 10:45, our series’ theme verse: “For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” “The form” has as its roots meaning “the very nature of”. The Lord Jesus is the “God-Man”. He would repeatedly answer the demand, “please show us the Father”, with the wise insight, “if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” He is the very nature of the Father. John 10:30 reminds us, “I and the Father are one.” Wow! And Mark picks up on that in the resurrection accounts. The Savior becomes a Servant so that He may be the Savior.

But there is one huge glimpse that Mark gives in this final chapter. Did you catch it? In verse 3, “Who will roll the stone away?” And verse 6, “don’t be alarmed.” How about verse 8, “trembling and bewildered…they were afraid.” And verse 11, after hearing Mary Magdalene’s eyewitness account, the disciples response? “They did not believe it.” After hearing the next amazing story of the two eyewitnesses on the road, the disciples’ response is seen in verse 13, “they did not believe them either.”

I like the way our NIV words the Savior’s response when He appears firsthand to His frightened disciples: “He rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe” the eyewitnesses (verse 14). Yet remember this: Mark writes as one of us. As throughout his book Mark records the many instances of the learner’s lack of faith, so we, too, are being recorded for the many times where we do not trust the Lord. We are these disciples. This is our story, too. Let us learn with them – for after Pentecost, they were giants of the faith. And so we should be, too.

CONCLUSION

Mark wraps up his account with two fascinating commands of the Lord Jesus, the Savior’s last words of instruction to His disciples. First, Mark shares the Great Commission, with a twist. Please don’t let the wording confuse you! Mark quotes Jesus as saying (v. 16), “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.” IF you leave that by itself, you would have to conclude that in order to be saved I must add something to my faith: be baptized. I must do a work in order to be saved. But see that Mark doesn’t end there. The next line is, “but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” As with the wisdom of James, “faith without works is dead,” so Mark is showing that first of all, I must demonstrate my inward faith by showing publicly that I belong to the Lord. But if I don’t have faith in the risen Savior, then I will not belong to Him throughout eternity.

And then the sermon title? “Do not try this at home.” Mark concludes his letter with a most unique command of the Savior: drive out demons, speak in new tongues, pick up snakes with your hands, you will not be affected by ingested poison, and you will heal all upon whom you place your hands. Wow! There are many groups today – presumably in the south – that adhere religiously to these words. But please do not neglect Mark’s closing words, for we will see them again in Hebrews 2:3-4. The Lord Jesus verified His Word through the new church with accompanying sign gifts. These gifts were displayed on demand by each of God’s servants. These gifts were to verify that what the early church was proclaiming is true: Jesus is alive! Even a casual reading of the books following Acts show that, once the Word of God was in complete written form, those sign gifts were no longer needed.

I have read, however, that in some of the African countries where God’s word is not in written language, many of these gifts are still present. But that is the exception, and certainly not the norm! Please, keep me away from snakes!

I have enjoyed preparing and presenting this series through the Gospel of Mark. I trust it has been as much an encouragement – and a challenge – to you as Mark’s gospel has been to me.

What is needed is a love for the Word of God! And the greatest lesson of Mark is that what is needed among those of us who claim to know the Lord Jesus is a servant’s heart. My life is not my own – I belong to the King of kings.

Is that your heart today? Have you come to the cross for your eternal trust? Are you showing publicly your faith in action? Is your life not your own, because you have been bought with the price of His precious blood?

Are you a servant of the King?

Close in prayer

“Faces of Calvary,” A message based on Mark 15, by Rev. Jeremy B. Stopford

INTRODUCTION

It is Good Friday once again. And as is my custom on the Good Friday “sermonette”, the “Today’s Special” is reverently silent. Perhaps next week, and the coverage of the Resurrection, will bring two specials for our enjoyment.

Good Friday. The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 6:14: “But God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Profound thought in a verse – that the whole of eternity centers around just one moment in time: the cross of Calvary.

Throughout this series of messages from each chapter of the Gospel of Mark, it has been my desire to highlight one incident, one person, one theme from each chapter. But Mark 15 is unique. As lengthy as the narrative is over Chapters 14 and 15, Mark develops in the chapter before us today the special viewpoints of several people, several faces if you will. They are what I call “Faces of Calvary”. Let’s look at Calvary through their eyes today. Prayer.

1. BARABBAS (vs. 6ff)

For all of eternity, the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, and Barabbas will be connected. For it was Pilate who made the decision to release Barabbas and allow the Savior to be crucified. The Apostle John tells us of Jesus’ conversation with Pilate, ““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.” The Savior’s life was not taken from Him. He gave it as a sacrifice for our sins.

Barabbas. The early church historian, Origen, stated that Barabbas’ full name was “Jesus Barabbas”. “Jesus”, Savior. “Bar”, “son”. “Abbas”, father. We’ve seen this before, when the Savior prayed in the garden of Gethsemane in Mark 14, “Abba, Father.” “Abba” is an intimate Aramaic term for “father”. And Barabbas’ true name meant, “Jesus, son of the father.” He represented all that the world has to offer, and all that it strives to gain by deceit or even murder. And the Savior? “Jesus, Son of The Father” [capital “T” and capital “F”]. He represents the love of God for the sins of the world. Both figures clashing at Calvary.

And Barabbas is released so that the Savior can willingly go to the cross for us.

2. SIMON (vs. 21ff)

He will always be known as “Simon the Cyrene”. The other gospels identify this fellow’s origins as being from North Africa. He was perhaps on his way to Jerusalem for the Passover, unaware of the goings on of the cross. Perhaps he had heard of the many executions that the Romans had on a regular basis. He would have paid no heed, except for one small detail.

“They forced him to carry the cross.” This is an amazing statement. The Savior was in the prime of his life. For many of us in our early thirties, we remember how strong we felt – and how we felt we would be this rugged forever. Perhaps not like Tom Brady at 41. But we felt like we could perform in top shape for a long time.

Our Savior was in His prime of life. So why couldn’t He carry His own cross all the way to the Hill of Golgotha? In verse 13, Mark gives us the insight: “Pilate had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified.” Added to this were the crown of thorns, and the mockings, and the repeated striking on the head with a staff, and the spitting – all the humiliation.

But the floggings was the center of Roman punishment prior to their crucifixion. The flogging, or “scourging”, was the repeated lashing of a whip – a stick with leather straps which had attached to them pieces of glass or broken stones. The ones whipping the victim would lash across the back and then pull skin off with the pulling of the chards across whatever part of the body to which they happened to attach. Isaiah says that the bruised Messiah no longer would look like a man as a result of the entire process of the crucifixion.

In 2 Cor. 11:24, Paul writes “From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.” For the Jew, the 40th lash was the death lash, the death blow. 5 times Paul received the 39 lashes, what the Jew realized was one lash shy of the death blow. But the Romans knew no such rule, no such courtesy of punishment. Who knows how many lashes our Savior received? The Romans did not care – for to them the Lord Jesus was just another criminal.

The One Who hours earlier was a picture of health and strength hours later could not carry His own cross.

But there is one further note that Mark makes. Simon is noted as “the father of Alexander and Rufus”. No other gospel gives this insight of the lineage of the cross bearer. No doubt Simon’s experience at the cross was passed on down to his children. It is not a light thing that the Scriptures have little mention of an “Alexander” or a “Rufus”. But the mentions are worthy of note. Alexander was noted by Paul in 1 Timothy 1:20 as having a faith which was shipwreck due to his willingness to blaspheme the only Name worthy of his trust. In 2 Tim. 4:14, Paul’s final words before his own death, he refers to Alexander as a coppersmith who had done him much harm. On the other hand, in Romans 16 Paul gives a detailed account of those dear saints who were of great help to him. Noteworthy among them is “Rufus, chosen in the Lord”. Simon had two known sons – one a blasphemer, and the other a precious saint. Eternity will record that each one of us has to make his own choice as to whether or not to follow the cross of Christ, which cross Simon no doubt followed for the rest of his life. His one son did as well, the other didn’t.

Choices. What is your choice?

3. THE CENTURION (v. 39; see also Matthew 8:5ff)

A Roman centurion is an officer over 100 soldiers. The unnamed officer of Mark’s account was an eyewitness to many crucifixions. They were all the same. The victim – whether innocent or not – would holler, scream, complain, curse, fight, fidget right to the death. Perhaps this centurion had heard much of this One called Jesus. And so he watched as the Savior endured the punishment, despising the shame. He did not holler, scream, complain, curse, fight, fidget. In fact, He even encouraged the arrangement of His mother’s care into John’s oversight, as shared in John’s gospel. He called out the agony of the separation from “My God.” And when He died, He simply “gave up the ghost.” He didn’t die a martyr – He gave His life. His death was different. And immediately, immediately, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The centurion understood. And in his heart and from his lips he proclaimed his faith, “surely this man was the Son of God.”

There is one other centurion mentioned in the gospels, and it is a good possibility that he is the same one of Mark’s account at the cross. In Matthew 8 a centurion came to Jesus seeking His healing of the centurion’s servant. The centurion’s request was an unique one: he simply wanted the Savior to speak a word of healing without visiting the servant’s home. The Roman officer voiced his faith through these words, “I myself am a man under authority.” He recognized that his position as a soldier was the same as the Savior’s position of submission to His heavenly Father. And to that bold statement the Savior said to all who would hear, “I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”

Could this not be the same centurion of our story in Mark? Could this man’s faith have become sight at the cross? Could this hardened soldier’s journey have taken him from trusting in the Savior being but a man into believing that He is the Son of God? Eternity will tell, but Mark’s gospel gives a fresh vision, a fresh hope, of the journey each one of us must take.

Is Jesus the Son of God, or just a man? Our eternity rests on the answer to that question.

4. JOSEPH (OF ARIMATHEA) (v. 43ff)

Our final face – of the many faces of Calvary – is that of Joseph who hailed from the region of Arimathea. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling authority of the Jerusalem. He had trusted in Jesus, but for fear of his fellow Jews he kept his faith to himself. He was “waiting for the kingdom of God” – an huge statement of faith in light of his current events. Many had thought that if Jesus was truly the Messiah, He would overcome the rule of Rome and put the Jews of Israel back in charge. But Joseph’s faith was such that he waited for the true kingdom, the one proclaimed by the prophets in which the Messiah will reign on David’s throne forever.

The cross made the difference in Joseph’s life. Mark details that Joseph came “boldly” to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. Mark also shares Pilate’s thoughts, startled that the Savior was dead without the help of further Roman cruelty. The soldiers would often break the legs of the ones hanging on the cross. This would then keep them from being able to lift themselves up to get one more breath of air, one more breath of hope. The Savior gave Himself. He had no bones broken.

And Joseph gave of himself for the Savior. He was a rich man whose riches did not own him. He bought valuable linen cloth. He himself lovingly, tenderly took the Savior’s body down from the cross. He wrapped the Savior in the cloth and placed Him in Joseph’s own expensive tomb. This tomb had a purposefully placed rock, sitting in a trench which rolled down a short incline so that the front of the tomb would be sealed.

Joseph’s faith, once secret, was now public. He would ask us, “is your faith a secret faith? Or are you not ashamed of the gospel of Christ?”.

CONCLUSION

The central eyewitness of the events of the cross, of course, is the Lord Jesus Himself. There was His agonizing cry, a fulfillment of Psalm 22, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”. Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 5:21, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” For the first time in eternity, the Father turned from His Son when His Son became my sin – our sin.

“With a loud cry, He breathed His last.” The simplicity of the Son becoming sin.

And then “the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” Again, Paul comments, in Heb. 9:12, “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” The high priest needed to enter the holiest of holies once a year, to make atonement for his own sin as well as for the sin of the nation. The Savior went into the heavenly temple with His own blood, thus enabling all who love Him to enter into the Holiest of Holies boldly through Him.

More comment is made on the details of the cross than are made of any details of the resurrection. We are given NONE other than “He is risen; the stone is rolled away”.

He bore our sins on Calvary’s tree. Are you a Barabbas – a rebel to the cross? Are you a Simon, whose children may be influenced by your following the Savior? Are you like the centurion, an eyewitness to the Savior who finally declares your faith in the Son of God? Or are you a Joseph of Arimathea – a disciple who comes forth and outwardly shows to the rest of the world that you do not belong to yourself but to the King of kings?

Close in prayer

November 11, 2018

First Baptist Church, Earlville, NY, Rev. Jeremy B. Stopford, Pastor

“THE HOUR HAS COME” (Mark 14:32-42)

November 4, 2018 10:30 AM

First Baptist Church, Earlville, NY

Rev. Jeremy B. Stopford, Pastor

TODAY’S “SPECIAL”: A Big Fall Dance Funny

It was approaching the big Fall Dance at John’s school. He decided that he wanted to try his luck and ask out the most popular girl in his school. So he got in line to ask her, and he waited, and he waited, and he waited. When he finally got to the front of the line, he was amazed because the girl said yes! She also handed him a long list of criteria he would have to meet for her to go with him.

The first criterion was a limousine. So he went to the limousine shop and, as it was near the time of the dance, he waited and waited and waited to get to the front of the line and hired a limousine. The second criterion was a suit from the most prestigious clothes maker in the city. So John went to that shop and waited and waited and waited to be fitted. Once he got his suit he looked at the list and chased up the next criteria on the list (roses, tickets, chauffeur, etc.) and at each one he had to wait for a very long line.

Finally it was the night of the Fall Dance! John went and picked up the girl in his limousine, had the chauffeur drive them to the dance, picked up his roses, and arrived at the dance venue. To get in to the dance they waited and waited to get in. When they finally got to their seats, John’s girl asked him to get her a glass of punch.

When John got to the punch table, he was surprised, because there was no punch line.

INTRODUCTION

Sometimes personal illustrations are helpful; often not. So let me take a try: when you were growing up, did you know what you wanted to be in life, what you wanted to do with your life? My one brother was sure he was going to be a doctor – and he did become one. My middle brother didn’t know until his senior year in college that he had a strong desire to become a lawyer – and he did become one. Their youngest brother, at age 5, wrote in the class essay, “when I grow up I want to be a copper”. And 26 years later, he was one – with a catch. His desire was fulfilled by being a non-gun toting parking enforcement officer. And they paid him for writing parking tickets. Wow.

Our text is fascinating. It relates that the Savior knew His calling in life, even from before He came to earth! And what was that calling? PRAYER

MARK 14 (& 15): THE FULFILLMENT OF THE SAVIOR’S MISSION!

This chapter is loaded, and I encourage you to read chapter 14 coupled with chapter 15 which give the entire passion of the Christ unfurled. In the scene before us this morning, the disciples (minus Judas, who has left to get a “gang” to arrest Jesus) went to a familiar spot. The spot was very familiar to Judas, and he knew to go there. With one last lesson, as it were, the Savior takes Peter, James, and John with Him to a place of prayer. They, of course, did not so much praying as they did sleeping, overwhelmed with the thinking that they were coming here to die themselves!

In this passage are at least two classic lines which even the world uses at times. The first is found in v. 36, “not what I will, but what You will” (or as in our KJV, “not My will but Thy will be done.”). This simple line shows us two profound truths. First, we must ask ourselves: was the Savior “chickening out”? He had just asked the Father, “everything is possible for You – please take this cup from Me.” What? The Savior relinquishing what He came to earth to do? Yet here we have, not a cowardice, but an identity. He was identifying with the human spirit. The book of Hebrews emphasizes over and over that “though He was weak, He became strong”. He became weak for us – so that He could identify with us. So when He encourages us to come to Him just as we are, we can – because He really does know how we feel. Great empathy. Great line for the ages.

But the second is as powerful as the first. He returns to the disciples three times – and each time finds them sleeping. They are overwhelmed. And what does He say here? V. 38 says, “the spirit is willing, but the body (flesh/KJV) is weak.” The world uses this line all the time! And so should we, for it identifies us with our disciple friends who were right there. Just when we can say, “well, if I were there, I’d be really strong”, the Savior and the disciples know that is not so. Their spirit was indeed willing – in fact, they said they were willing to die for their Savior. Of course, at this time, they had not grasped by faith that His mission was not to start His kingdom on earth. Rather, His mission was to die for the sins of the world. The flesh, the body was weak. And yet Paul reminds us, “when I am weak, then I am strong.” We can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us! When we are weak, we need to see our weakness in light of the strength of the One standing before the disciples. That’s quite a line, “the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

But note please the 3 times that the word “hour” is used in a few passages. V. 35 our Savior prayed that “the hour” might pass from Him. This is the hour of surrender of the will, the resignation to His Father’s eternal plan. The Father answered that prayer. The hour passed with His line, “not My will but Thine.”

But the second usage is also interesting! In verse 37, He returns and sees His disciples not praying but sleeping. What were His choice words? “Could you not keep watch for one hour?” Isn’t that something? The Savior, Who is eternal, has limited Himself to human time! And because of that limitation, so that He could be one of us, He knew that our world is measured by units of time – and here, one hour. One hour is probably figurative for “a few moments”. But the point is huge! He understood His limitation. And He understood and grieved for their hurt and weakness.

And the last usage is found in v. 41, “the hour has come”. Note, it wasn’t intended to be a series of 60 minutes put together in one unit of time. No, no! It was His purpose, His mission, which, according to Revelation 13:8, was decided before the foundation of the earth! In eternity past, the Savior knew His mission: the cross, to die for the sins of the whole world for all eternity!

But the hour was more than that. It was a fulfillment of all those moments that were not “the hour”. Seven times in the Gospel of John the Lord Jesus uses this words, “My hour has not yet come.” To His own mother at Cana, before He changed the water to wine, His words perhaps reminded her very abruptly of those words He said at age 12 in the temple, “don’t you know I must be about My Father’s business?”. She knew! And so she responds, “whatever He says, do it.”

And in John 12:23,27, 13:1, and 17:1 – all passages surrounding Gethsemane – the Savior reminds those that were there, as well as His Father, in essence, that “for this very hour I have come to earth.”

In that John 17:1 verse, believed to be the very passage He prayed at Gethsemane, the Lord Jesus prays, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You.”

All this is before one blow is struck, one thorn is piercing His brow, one broken chard is whipped into His back, one nail is pierced into His hands and feet. His hour has come.

CONCLUSION

And in that hour, He was condemned to death for blasphemy by His Jewish peers. Next week, we’ll see the Roman condemnation that allowed Him to go to the cross.

I don’t think it would be belittling the theme of the cross to make another application. We, too, who love the Lord Jesus as Savior have our own “hour.” Perhaps we have many hours!

* The hour of decision to trust Jesus as Savior and Lord of our lives.

* The hour when we hungered to read His word and pray on a daily basis

* The hour when we realize His calling upon our lives.

* The hour when we prayed with our Savior, “not my will but Thine be done.”

* The hour when He called us Home to Himself, and we hear those words, “well done, My good and faithful servant.”

Have you surrendered to the cross? Have you surrendered to His hour in your life?

Close in prayer

Rev Jeremy with wife Thuvia Stopford