Thank you, Pastor Gordon and the
rest of the pastoral team for letting me speaking to the whole church today.
I really appreciate it!
All of this started out with the
blessed opportunity to share a great testimony, which I will share again.
Thursday, April 21, I had a stroke!
I am only 41 years old, and I had a stroke! I suddenly had trouble swallowing,
and I felt numbness along the right side of my body. When I called 9-11, I
could not speak or saying anything intelligible.
But instead of panicking or getting
afraid, I remembered God’s Word, God’s promises for me, and I declared in my
mind, even if I could not say it out of my mouth:
“I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.” (Psalm
118:17)
I have a picture on my door at
home, and I declare another promise, that I will live to be 120 years old.
That’s a promise we can bank on because of these verses:
“And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for
that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”
(Genesis 6:3)
The second time that 120 is
mentioned, as in 120 years, takes place in Deuteronomy, when Moses dies:
“And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was
not dim, nor his natural force abated.” (Deuteronomy 34:7)
We can rest and receive this
promise, because of what God has done for us through His Son Jesus!
Consider the last verse in Psalm
91:
“With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.” (Psalm
91:16)
That last word says it all:
Salvation!
We can trust and believe for long
life, because of Jesus! He is our Life:
“When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:4)
So, when I had my stroke, I called
911, and paramedics arrived on scene to assist me. By the time they arrived,
all the symptoms were gone. I could talk, I could drink, and I felt no numbness
in the right side of my body. They told me to go to urgent care, which I did. The
doctor told me “You’re going into emergency. This is very serious. It’s better
to have long period of aggravation than to take a chance, suffer later.”
So, there I was in the emergency
room. And then they told me that I was going to stay for the evening. They
didn’t know why I had a stroke. My blood pressure was OK, and they did some
initial scans, and they found evidence of a suspected stroke. But that was it.
While I was in the hospital room, I
started praying the first prayer that Paul the Apostle shares with the
Ephesians church. That has been a prayer that I have been praying a great deal
for the last year and a half:
“15Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and
love unto all the saints, 16Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of
you in my prayers; 17That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of him: 18The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know
what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his
inheritance in the saints,” (Ephesians 1:15-18)
I want to see more of Jesus! I want
to see Him!
I want to share with you the New
Living Translation of Ephesians 1:18:
“I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can
understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people
who are his rich and glorious inheritance.” (Ephesians 1:18, NLT)
In these really tough times, when
there are troubles on every side, it’s so important to see Him!
Jesus is alive! He is alive in our
everyday lives, because He is our life. I feel that many believers in the Body
of Christ know that Jesus died for them, but they don’t see Him as a living,
moving, active Savior in every day of their walk on this earth.
Now, the question comes up: how do
I see Jesus? What is the best way to see Him?
Jesus Himself provides the way!
Turn with me to Luke 24: [Spence, I
will tell you how to bring up the verses, one at a time---Luke 24: 13-24]
“13And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called
Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14And they talked
together of all these things which had happened. 15And it came to pass, that,
while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went
with them.” (Luke 24: 13-15]
Check that out! Jesus HIMSELF! Drew
near!
16But their eyes were holden
that they should not know him.
Some people have suggested that
Jesus withheld the two of them from seeing Him. I don’t receive that, because
Jesus is the Light of the World (John 8:12). I will explain later why I think
these two disciples did not recognize Jesus at first.
17And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that
ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? (Luke 24:17)
I want to park here for a second.
Notice how Jesus, who has risen from the dead, purged all our sins, fulfilled
so many prophecies, steps into the life of these two downcast disciples. He
cares for your, believers, and now matter how bad the situation may seem, Jesus
is there with you!
18And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him,
Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are
come to pass there in these days? 19And he said unto them, What things? And
they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in
deed and word before God and all the people: 20And how the chief priests and
our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. (Luke
24:18-20)
Notice how Cleopas refers to Jesus
as a prophet. Yes, He served as a prophet during His earthly ministry. But
Jesus did not come to earth to reveal God’s judgment against us, nor to remind
everyone of their sins. He came to become sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him.
The fact that Jesus was crucified,
the worst death imaginable, was a really crushing blow to the disciples. And
why?
21But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel:
and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. 22Yea,
and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at
the sepulchre; 23And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they
had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24And certain
of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the
women had said: but him they saw not.” (Luke 24:21-24)
Notice that the disciples major
focus is Israel. They saw Jesus as a means to an end. They saw Jesus as a
political Messiah who would restore the glory of Israel. Don’t get me wrong.
Israel is being restored right now, and when Jesus comes back, He will be
reigning from Jerusalem.
But the focus is on Jesus, on
Himself!
And Jesus gently corrects them:
25Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all
that the prophets have spoken: 26Ought not Christ to have suffered these
things, and to enter into his glory? 27And beginning at Moses and all the
prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning
himself.” (Luke 24:25-27)
When Jesus opened the Scriptures to
the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, He taught of HIMSELF!
He didn’t talk about having a good
marriage, or how to improve your bank account, or how to get healing. He didn’t
even talk about how to have great faith. Jesus is not a means to an end. He is
the means and the end. He declares the end from the beginning. It’s all about
Him!
He taught of Himself!
We want to be caught up in Himself!
We want to see more of Himself! It’s all about Him!
“15Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every
creature: 16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that
are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17And
he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:15-17)
Peter’s last words in the New
Testament are:
“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18)
Paul was really clear about his
focus when he ministered to the Corinthian church:
“For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ,
and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2)
I used to struggle with this verse,
because it seemed to impractical to me. When Paul says that he knew nothing
among them but Christ and Him Crucified, I immediately start asking “But how
does that help me with this problem or that problem? What I am supposed to do
with myself, with my life?”
The mistake that I made was
thinking that Paul was talking about Jesus as though He is some static figure.
But Jesus is alive, active, working in our lives, working behind the scenes
caring for us! When we see Him in the Gospels, we see a living Savior who
provides for our needs, who over-answers our prayers! (Ephesians 3:20)
He is the same yesterday, today,
and forever (Hebrews 13:8)
Now, I mentioned above how Jesus
taught of Himself. He didn’t teach about faith, did He? It’s not that faith is
not important.
But how do we get faith?
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
(Romans 10:17)
That’s the KJV, but let’s take a
look at the NIV:
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is
heard through the word about Christ.” (Romans 10:17)
And here’s the American Standard
Version:
“So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
The original Greek reads “Rhema
Christou.” It’s the Word of Christ, not the Word of God. We want to see
everything in the Word through the Finished Work of JESUS! We need to see
everything in the Word, from Genesis to Revelation, through the lens of the New
Covenant, in which Jesus has paid for all our sins, and brings us into a New
and everlasting covenant.
Let me take a little time to share
with all of you what is in the New Covenant. We are all hearing about it, but
what does it actually say?
“10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write
them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a
people:
11And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his
brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the
greatest.
12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and
their iniquities will I remember no more.
This new covenant is all about what
God does. It’s not about us keeping commandments, following the steps, but
believing in Him, that Jesus has taken all our sins and has justified us,
brought us into right relationship with God the Father, our Father!
Jesus himself—there’s that
“Himself” again!—said to the Israelites during His earthly ministry:
“Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye
believe on him whom he hath sent.” (John 6:29)
We have to rightly divide the Word
of Truth (2 Timothy 2:15)!
There are some passages in which
God declares to the Israelites:
“I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that
hate Me,” (Deuteronomy 5:9)
But that’s the Old Covenant! We are
now longer under law, under the Old Covenant, but under grace, under the New
Covenant! (Romans 6:14)
“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we,
being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were
healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)
And
“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Under the Old Covenant, God will
curse those who don’t keep the law:
“Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.
And all the people shall say, Amen.” (Deuteronomy 27:26)
But under grace, under the New
Covenant:
“10For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for
it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are
written in the book of the law to do them. 11But that no man is justified by
the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
12And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us:
for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14That the
blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we
might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:10-14)
Whenever we open up the Scriptures,
we want a revelation of Jesus, our Messiah, who suffered, died, was buried,
rose from the dead for our justification, and who ministers for us after the
power of an endless life! (Hebrews 7:16)
Some may counter: How is it
practical for us to look at Jesus in the Word? How does that help me?
Check out this wonderful verse:
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the
Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the
Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Notice how Paul writes “we are
changed,” or rather we are transformed. We do not transform ourselves. The Holy
Spirit transforms us. When we see Jesus, when we receive greater revelations of
Himself, He transforms us! God the Father shows us His Son Jesus! When we see
Him, we are transformed from glory to glory!
Jesus is the answer to every
problem, to every challenge, to every question we face:
“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” (1 Corinthians 1:30)
He is our new identity! We are in
Christ, and Christ is in us! Therefore, we want to spend as much time as we can
knowing Him, seeing Him in the Word!
“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day
of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17)
That verse is translated in
accurately, because it is not our live that is perfected, but His love is
perfected among us. That’s the proper translation of the verse there.
To wrap up, I want to get back to a
point I brought up earlier. In Luke 24, Cleopas and the wife could not see
Jesus, or rather they did not recognize Him. Why?
2 Corinthians 4 gives us the answer:
3But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them
that are lost: 4In whom the god of this world hath blinded the
minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of
Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.(2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
And we find the solution back in 2
Corinthians 3:
“12Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of
speech: 13And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children
of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
14But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail
untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in
Christ.” (2 Corinthians 3:12-14)
When you show people JESUS in the
Word, and stop looking for yourself or at yourself, you see what the Word is
really all about!
Cleopas and the wife did not
believe that the Messiah would suffer for our sins, and by His stripes, we
would be healed. They were focused only the political restoration. They missed
the other part. But I would also add, if people are going to the Bible to look
for themselves, to look for tips on how to live, how to make ourselves right,
we are going to miss Jesus. We are not going to see Him, and we will nto be
transformed.
If you look for yourself, you are
going to be depressed and frustrated. But if you look for Jesus, you will be
transformed from glory to glory, fortified with His Wisdom, filled with a
greater revelation of our Loving Father’s love for us, gaining a greater
awareness of all that He has done for us, is doing through, and will do with
us! AMEN!
And one last thing to tie together
the revelation I received last week. I talked about living to 120 years old
right? We know that Moses lived to 120 years, and his eyes did not grow dim,
not was his natural force abated.
How was this possible? Because He
saw Jesus!
“By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he
endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27)
He renews our youth like the
eagle’s!
It’s all about Jesus, and it’s all
about seeing Him!
[Preached at Believers Victory International Church, Carson CA, May 1, 2022]
