The Life of Our Resurrected Lord.
John 12:12-16

The . . Past of Our Resurrected Lord.

The . . Present of Our Resurrected Lord.

The . . Future of Our Resurrected Lord.
 
 

Intro: What did Jesus do while on this earth?

A.    Jesus Came to Seek and Save. Luke 19:10
10 "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (NAS)

Mark 2:17
17 And hearing this, Jesus said to them, "{It is} not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (NAS)

Illustration Jesus never forgave an excuse
Corrie Ten Boom, in her autobiography, The Hiding Place, made a keen observation about the futility of rationalizing our sins. She said, "The blood of Jesus never cleansed an excuse."
Source: Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place.
 

B.    Jesus Came to Give Abundant Life. John 10:10
10 "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have {it} abundantly. (NAS)
 

Illustration
"One day Columbus went sailing on the shiny waters. He went off into the sunset as people waited expectantly, and finally after a long time the sails reappeared and the crowds were exultant. They shouted with joy, and Columbus announced that there was a land beyond the sea that was rich beyond their dreams. It was a glorious paradise. The king of Spain changed the motto of that land until it reads as it does today, Plus Ultra, meaning, "There is more beyond."    D. James Kennedy, "Message from an Empty Tomb," Preaching Today, Tape No. 66.
 

C.    Jesus Did Not Come to Judge. John 12:47-48
47 "And if anyone hears My sayings, and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 "He who rejects Me, and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. (NAS)
 

Illustration
Martha Williamson, the producer of the TV show "Touched by an Angel," used to think religion was a joke. That was before she took a job directing an Easter pageant organized by an interdenominational group called "Reach Out." The Easter play needed a professional touch, and friends recommended
Williamson for the job.

"I was frustrated directing these people because they were always stopping to pray, she says. "They'd pray before rehearsal and after rehearsal, and if something went wrong, they'd stop in the middle and pray. It was making me crazy."

While the actors rehearsed the powerful story of Christ's resurrection, Williamson stayed busy moving bodies across the stage and looking for the dramatic effect.

Then came the night of the big performance, when the director's job is all but over. As she stood in the back of the theater watching the performance, she says the words hit her 'like a ton of bricks.'

She recalls, "They were talking about Somebody who died 2,000 years ago and was alive right now and possibly inhabiting this room. At that moment, I thought, I GET IT!" At that moment Martha Williamson believed Jesus was telling the truth. At that moment her life was forever changed. Eternal life, the promise of resurrection, was hers. Aspire, April 1996, p. 29.

Application

Intro: What Is Jesus doing Right Now?

A.    Jesus is . . Praying Heb 7:25
25 Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. (NAS)

Rom 8:34
34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. (NAS)

1 Tim 2:5
5 For there is one God, {and} one mediator also between God and men, {the} man Christ Jesus, (NAS)

B.    Jesus is . . Procuring. Heb 7:8-9
8 And in this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one {receives them} of whom it is witnessed that he lives on.   9 And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes,

Illustration
A preacher talking to his church members about giving is like the pastor who pastor was talking to his farmer friend. He asked the farmer, "If you had one hundred horses, would you give me fifty?" The farmer said, "Certainly."

The pastor asked, "If you had one hundred cows, would you give me fifty?" The farmer said, "Yes." Then the pastor asked, "If you had two pigs, would you give me one?" The farmer said, "Now cut that out, pastor; you know I have two pigs!"
 

Illustration The impossible wish
A preacher walking on the beach finds a washed ashore bottle and it produces a genie. He gets one wish.
"I want to go to the Holy Land, but as I am terrified of airplanes and get seasick just thinking of boats, I need a road built, so I can drive!"

"Well, I just cannot build a bridge that long, so I'll give you a replacement wish." "Well then I wish that all my church members would tithe."

"Did you want that road two lane or four lane?"
 

C.    Jesus is . . Preparing. John 14:3
3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, {there} you may be also. (NAS)
 

Application

Is the Lord Preparing a place for you?
 
 

A.  Jesus Is Coming Again. John 14:3
3 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, {there} you may be also. (NAS)
 

B.    Jesus Is Going To Open The Book and the Books.
Rev 5:5-7, 12-13
5 and one of the elders said to me, "Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals." 6 And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. 7 And He came, and He took {it} out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. 12 saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." 13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, {be} blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." (NAS)
 

C.    Jesus Is Going to Have a Heavenly Palm Sunday. Rev 7:9
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and {all} tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches {were} in their hands; (NAS)
 

D    Jesus Is Going to Have An Eternal Fellowship with Us.   1Thes 4:17-18
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. (NAS)
 

Illustration My attempt at song writing

Illustration Alive when mountains die
The following is a quotation from the words of Dr. W. B. Hinson, speaking from the pulpit a year after the commencement of the illness from which he ultimately died: "I remember a year ago when a man in this city said, "You have got to go to your death." I walked out to where I live, five miles out of this city, and I looked across at that mountain that I love, and I looked at the river in which I rejoice, and I looked at the stately trees that are always God's own poetry to my soul.

"Then in the evening I looked up and I said: "I may not see you many more times, but, Mountain, I shall be alive when you are gone; and, River, I shall be alive when you cease running toward the sea; and, Stars, I shall be alive when you have fallen from your sockets in the great down-pulling of the material universe!""     Source: Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations.