Today’s message summary of March 25, 2018 from Pastor Gus Brown:
Often when we think of Easter, we think of Jesus Christ’s death and His resurrection. What is sometimes left out is that the disciples had to be prepared for what would happen before Jesus went to the cross…on what we now refer to as Good Friday.
Jesus prepared his disciples for Friday. He informed them that He would be given up for the cross in Jerusalem. He said, “I have told you these things.”
Matthew 20:17-19
While going up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve disciples aside privately and said to them on the way, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death. They will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked, flogged, and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised.”
Mark 10:32
They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were astonished, but those who followed him were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them the things that would happen to him.
Jesus repeated himself again to the twelve disciples about what would happen, and even provides some detail as to how it would occur.
Luke 18:31-33
Then he took the Twelve aside and told them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. Everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked, insulted, spit on; and after they flog him, they will kill him, and he will rise on the third day.”
Note that after all of this, he tells the disciples that on the third day he would rise again. He gives them a glimmer of hope after all of these things would occur. He was preparing them for what would come.
This is part of the job of today’s church. It is to get people ready for what they will face day to day in their life. The church is to inform the people of what opposition that they will face, and that Jesus would be right in their midst.
John 16:33
“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”
As a child of God, there are special moments in your life where God will speak directly to you. He wants you to understand it, grasp it, and prepare you for what is coming. It’s a personal relationship where Jesus is giving you information that you need.
God spoke directly to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Peter, Paul (Saul), Philip and John (among many, many others).
God is still speaking to us. Are you still willing to hear Him?
For the disciples, He is not just telling them about what will happen to Him, but what is going to happen to them. He tells them how He expects them to respond to their situation, for He will no longer we present with them.
What did He tell them?
In me, you may have peace. You are to keep your mind on me. You will need this peace, quiet and rest in order to set forth plans for the future.
Isaiah 26:3
You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you.
Matthew 14:31-33
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those in the boat worshiped him and said, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Note how Jesus addressed Peter to calm him down before the winds died down. God will do the same for you. He will calm you and you will find that you are no longer fixed on the storms of life, but upon Jesus Himself. God cares more about you than just your problems or difficulties.
John 14:27
“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.”
2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
This personal peace works with the power of God through the Holy Spirit, love and self-discipline.
John 16:1
“I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling.”
Peace is given so you will not fall out of character, or even do the wrong thing. He didn’t want the disciples to be hostile or respond with sharp tongues. Jesus was informing his disciples that he was expecting them to live in the same way that Christ did.
Why do the disciples need His peace? They will be rejected in the same way that Jesus was rejected.
John 16:2-3
“They will ban you from the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God. They will do these things because they haven’t known the Father or me.”
Jesus tells them that they will have trouble.
The question is how will you handle the trouble.
2 Corinthians 10:1-5
Now I Paul, myself, appeal to you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble among you in person but bold toward you when absent. I beg you that when I am present I will not need to be bold with the confidence by which I plan to challenge certain people who think we are behaving according to the flesh. For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.
Our weapon is prayer.
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
How can we thank God for you in return for all the joy we experience before our God because of you, as we pray very earnestly night and day to see you face to face and to complete what is lacking in your faith? Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you. And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone, just as we do for you. May he make your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. Amen.
John 16:4-5
But I have told you these things so that when their time comes you will remember I told them to you. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’
God always prepares his people for the next steps in life. He teaches us to be ready when the time comes.
Scripture provides us with a warning, but also a preparation (readiness).
Satan will prepare you for hell, but the Holy Spirit prepares you for heaven.
John 15:18-25
“If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they don’t know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now they have no excuse for their sin. The one who hates me also hates my Father. If I had not done the works among them that no one else has done, they would not have sin. Now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But this happened so that the statement written in their law might be fulfilled: They hated me for no reason.
John 16:6
Yet, because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.
John 16:16-17, 20-22
“A little while and you will no longer see me; again a little while and you will see me.” Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this he’s telling us: ‘A little while and you will not see me; again a little while and you will see me’ and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?”
Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you.
Psalm 30:5
For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor, a lifetime.
Weeping may stay overnight,
but there is joy in the morning.
Take heart. Be encouraged and confident.
John 16:33
“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”
As Christians, we are to have confidence in Christ.
If you do not stand, there is nothing to overcome. Opposition is a necessary part of the Christian life when you stand against sin.
When you take a stand for Jesus and His teaching, you will need to endure five areas of life:
- Overcoming personal suffering–dying to self (John 12:24)
- Overcoming the temptation of the flesh (1 John 2:16)
- Overcoming the attacks of Satan and his schemes (Ephesians 6:11)
- Overcoming the attacks of others (2 Corinthians 10:10, 11:6)
- Overcoming prior sins (2 Peter 2:20)
Jesus desires for you to overcome the world, it’s system, and how Satan would have you to live.
You can overcome because Jesus has conquered and overcame the world.
Romans 8:31
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
Akron Alliance Fellowship 