Four Gems of Easter
Acts 2:22-24
The
time of the year that many people celebrate as the
"Easter Season" is here. The Mardi Gras celebrations in
New Orleans & Rio De Janeiro, the Charro Days parades &
many other such celebrations - all had their origins in man’s efforts
to highlight the good news of the
resurrection of Jesus, and all perverted...
Act
2:32-36
What a proclamation of the death, burial, & resurrection of Jesus! What will we do?
Alexander
the Great of Greece was one of the greatest military leaders in all of recorded
history. During the brief years of his rule his army swept through most of the
known world, conquering all in its path. Even the mighty Persian Empire proved
to be helpless before him.
As his army marched through Persia
the soldiers went into the villages & cities, taking whatever they wanted.
In the capitol, they entered the palace of Darius, & one soldier found an
attractive leather bag. He looked inside & there were the crown jewels of
Persia. Being ignorant of the value of precious stones,
the soldier looked for a moment
& decided they were worthless, shiny rocks. So he dumped them out, but kept
the leather bag. He was seen time & time again, carrying his prized find, a
leather bag, & boasting of the attractive container in which he carried his
food.
We smile at a story like
that? How often in life do we hang on to
worthless bags & throw away precious Gems?
1. Do
we clutch the bag of pleasure & pursue things that bring momentary
satisfaction? We eat too much. We eat & drink wrong things.
We dull our minds w/chemicals, & throw away precious GEMs of physical health.
2.
How many times do people succumb to the lust of the eyes & flesh,
searching for some kind of temporary sexual gratification? They cling to the
little leather bag, & in the process throw away the precious GEM of purity.
3. Or
how many times do we pursue material things of the world, thinking "If only we can get our pot of gold, then
satisfaction will be ours."
We work extra hours & weekends. We spend hours from family, clutching the
bag of material gain. In the process we throw away the precious
GEM of our children & our families.
I think
we may often be guilty of that at Easter - grabbing bags that have no value and
throw away the precious GEM’s of celebrating His resurrection.
Let
me introduce you to FOUR precious GEMs of Easter. And as I mention them,
you’re going to think,
“Those are precious? I don’t see anything precious about them."
Just like the soldier of Alexander the Great….
Precious
stones are often deceptive. When you 1st see them you’re not sure if they’re
valuable or not. You have to see them shimmer in the light. You have to grow in
your appreciation of their quality before you see their value.
I. Realizing the TRAGEDY of sin.
A. We don’t
like to acknowledge our sin.
That GEM is hard to see the value of! Guilt is one of those things we would rather throw away.
In
the process of throwing it away,
1. Jesus said, “They worship me with their lips, but their hearts are far away.”
I wonder, have we come to grips w/the tragedy
of our sin?
We try to cover it up or
justify it, convincing ourselves, everybody else’s sin is wrong, but ours is
alright.
Martin Luther said
"The ultimate test of a sinner is that he doesn’t
“We
used to hiss at the villains, but today we buy their books.”
That’s another way convincing
ourselves sin is really not all that bad, & we can find a way to live with
it.
And we seem to
think since we accepted it, God has accepted it too.
2.
Easter: the resurrection has come,
Easter
w/
its
blossoms & flowers, cover up all the wrong we have done And
we try to cast the tragedy of sin aside.
Steve Garvey
was a great professional baseball player who set many records. But shortly after
he retired newspapers
featured an article about him revealing he had impregnated a woman while he was
getting a divorce from his first wife
&
getting ready to marry his 2nd wife.The newspapers reported a law suit for child
support was filed. When Garvey
was
interviewed, he said, "I will live up to my moral responsibilities. I take
them seriously because I am a Christian."
Someone
needed to tell Mr. Garvey before he sinned, the tragedy of sin. Someone needs to
tell people, Christian men don’t
go around
having relationships outside of marriage.
B. Until we realize the real tragedy of sin,
The story is
told about a professional football player who didn’t like to obey curfew,
& many nights he would sneak out.
He would take blankets &
pillows & put them under the covers of his bed, so that when the coach
checked his room, it
would look like he was sound
asleep like all the others.Well, in one city they stayed in a hotel where there
weren’t enough
extra blankets & pillows. So he improvised by taking the lamp from the nightstand by the bed & putting it underneath the
covers. It looked just fine. But when the coach came by
for the bed check & turned on the light switch, the bed lit up.
"Be
sure your sins will find you out." Num 32:23b
1. Realizing the tragedy of sin is
a precious
GEM don’t throw it away
You can’t look at the cross, you can’t hear the
cries
from Calvary’s hill for long before you recognize the tragedy of sin.
2.
vs 23, He "was
handed over to you by God’s set purpose & foreknowledge"
Sin is
such a tragedy AND the only one
worthy
of paying the price was God’s only Son. God handed Him over to be crucified.
That is how terrible sin is in
the sight of Holy God.
II. The NECESSITY of sacrifice.
A. We live in a self-indulgent society.
1. We don’t care much for sacrifice.
Hard to think of that one as a GEM because we would just as soon cast that one aside & cling to the leather bag of
indulgence.
I’ll tell you this sick story with some
reservations -
a yuppie wrecked his BMW. He was standing there, looking
at it, saying, "Oh, my BMW, my BMW, my BMW." An officer walked up & said, "Sir, you must be in shock. Don’t
you realize your left arm has been horribly crushed?" The yuppie looked down at the mangled stub & cried, "Oh, my
Rolex, my
Rolex,
B. Sacrifice is
not part of our usual vocabulary.
We want a religion that doesn’t ask us to sacrifice,
not even a moment.
Bob
McFall, a 39-yr-old bachelor suffering from Aplastic anemia. He needed a bone
marrow transplant. A search of
his family discovered his 1st cousin was ideal donor, Bob could live on. When they explained to the 1st cousin, no harm
would come to him, he still refused to help. Bob sued! The trial drug on, a verdict was reached. While the 1st cousin’s
behavior was reprehensible, the court ruled it couldn’t make him give bone marrow. Bob died 3 wks later
Sacrifice is not in our
vocabulary today.
C. Now compare
that to the cross.
1. God sees us in our sin & the only
remedy is a blood transfusion.
2. It must be the right kind of blood.
HOLY BLOOD. It must be God’s blood.
D. Jesus could
have said,
“I’m not going. I’m going to stay here.”
Willingly He sacrificed Himself. Sacrifice is absolutely necessary.
That comes as a result of the tragedy of sin.
III. GENUINE Grief.
A. Death can be overwhelming. Luke 24 Jesus friends gathered...
After
taking His body from the cross they laid it in the tomb.
Here are their words, “We
thought that He was the one sent from God who
would redeem the people of Israel.”
All future plans revolved around Jesus & His kingdom on earth. They were going to be on His right & left. They’d be the
entourage
in the royal procession. It would be peace & prosperity for all
2.
What great dreams & plans they had!
Now He was dead, & all of
their hopes & dreams were shattered.
3.
We are created in the image of an immortal God,
We all desire to live beyond the grave. That is what makes Easter
so special. Every one of us wants to
live beyond the
grave.
B. We don’t
want death to interrupt our plans.
If death doesn’t come I’ll go on my vacation this summer.
If death doesn’t interrupt I’ll watch my grandchildren grow up, graduate from high school & get married & become
responsible
adults.
Jam.
4:14 HCSB You
don't know what tomorrow will bring--what your life will be!
See, in your minds
eye, the tears on Calvary’s hill.
The tragedy of sin, the necessity of sacrifice, the genuine of grief.
We must go through all these valleys before we can know
CERTAIN
JOY.
IV. The CERTAINTY of Joy.
A. The message
of the resurrection. CERTAIN JOY!
Travel with the women down the garden pathway. See the open tomb. Look inside the grave clothes folded. Realize, Jesus,
not among the dead
1. HE IS ALIVE!
Here the words "He is alive! He is alive!"
2.
When we look in that empty tomb,
we can reach only 1 conclusion - something happened, something wonderful,
something
glorious, something beautiful, something
eternal happened here.
3. Death & sin have been defeated.
Our
promise, our hope is all wrapped up in an empty tomb.
B. Taste the
certainty of joy. Sing hallelujah!
Look into the tomb. Something happened here.
An old
fisherman became a Christian. He lived 7 miles from the church & walked 14
miles every Lord’s Day to worship
God. He loved God & his
people so much, he didn’t even consider that it was a sacrifice. One Lord’s
Day it was stormy
& rainy, he
was delayed often because of the mud & rain. Finally arriving at church,
just in time to hear the benediction,
"Because of Jesus, now & forevermore,
Amen."
The old fisherman stood there, soaked, dripping with rain. The people
went out, saying "We’re sorry you
missed the
service & fellowship & worship & message & praise together." The fisherman, said smiling , "It is worth the walk in rain
& mud just
to hear the words, ‘Because
of Jesus, now & forever"
Jesus has conquered the temporary & gave eternal
life.
Taste the certainty of joy.
Rejoice in the victory that is Christ’s, & hear the words once again, "If we die with Him we will also rise with Him." We will
live with Him for all eternity.So today, if you are now aware of the tragedy of your sin, then we offer you the certainty of joy
in the resurrection of Christ Jesus, We extend to you the invitation of our living Lord. We invite you to respond to it as we
stand
& as we sing.
307 “Just AS I AM.”