Message 4 - Tailor Made - R.I.P - Resurrection Sunday

Ephesians 6:15

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Good morning, everyone. Happy Easter. He's alive, and it's so good to see you. Uh, before we dig into the mess feature this morning, uh uh we have put to up, if you're in would like to get some pictures, we have put up a booth with some decorations and things uh down the hallway and the last uh room on the uh the right-hand side. Uh just go in that room and you can get some pictures of yourselves if you want to, or if you're dressed for up for Easter, or if you just want to uh have a memory of this day, or you just haven't got a good family pictures for a while. There, there's a backdrop drop that is set up for you in that room, and uh feel free to use it. Uh rest in peace. That's a very familiar phrase for all of us. Uh a family member passes away, or someone we know I have a relationship with uh passes away, and and we pass that phrase on to each other as a a phrase of comfort. Rest in peace. Uh you see a Facebook post, and and you find out that uh someone maybe you haven't seen for years, but all of a sudden there's their image on the Facebook and with the message. This is their obituary, and you can and they've gone on. And so you look it up, and you can, if you want to, you can even make a comment, and so many of those comments will maybe tell a little bit about the loved one that's gone on, but it it'll end with uh rest in peace. Rest in peace. There was a Friday over two thousand years ago when that phrase seemed to do anything but fit the situation, the moment. Uh, that there was no peace. There was darkness, there was anguish. The earth shook, it seemed like, as if it had its own special sorrow. The one that so many had hung their hopes on as the answer. The answer to their needs, to their problems, their answer to their situation in life, the answer to all they had been longing for for so many years. And and now he was gone. And peace seemed to be the last thing that anyone sensed at that moment. Rest in peace. Often it's stated, or when we write it, it's not put forward as a question. Uh it's a statement of assumed fact. They're gone now, their life is over, and we assume that they've begun this peaceful time of rest. But it's a dangerous assumption. And I want to talk to us this morning about why. Because I want to make sure that you aren't assuming, and I'm not assuming, something that uh I shouldn't just expect. Over in the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew was one of the individuals who walked and talked with Jesus during his life, and and then in his gospel uh he recorded things that uh Jesus said and things he saw Jesus do along with his fellow gospel writers that were also eyewitnesses. But over in the Gospel of Matthew, towards the end of Matthew's record of Jesus' life, as we were moving into that moment when he would pass away, when his life would come to an end. He had one of those teaching moments with his followers as they were all together. And this took just a short time before the cross, before he would hang on that cross, before that very, very dark moment in history for certainly for those who are his day-to-day followers. Uh, in chapter 24, you don't have to go there. I'm just gonna kind of talk us through it for a minute. But in chapter 24, and just like I said, just a few hours before his death on the cross, Jesus is talking to his followers. And Matthew quotes uh some statements that Jesus made. Uh he teaches that in the future there are going, and this is what Jesus was saying, he said that in the future there were going to be individuals who would assume things were right between them and God, assume that they were at peace. They would assume it. Why? Well, because they were religious people. They did religious things, they went to the meetings, they read the Bible, they wore the expected dress of the religious people when they talked. They talked the jargon of people who seemed like they were followers of God. But as Jesus was talking to his disciples, he makes this statement. He said that there would come this day when all of humanity would stand before the Lord. And in that moment, as they spread out before him, he would make a decision, he would make a declaration, he would look at all these people who looked so much the same to most, and he would look at them and he would say, Some of you are sheep, and some of you are goats. To the untrained eye, they wouldn't look much different. But he said, When the shepherd comes, he will know which are which. He will know which one are the goats, which one are, and as the goats, which one are the impostors, the pretenders, and which ones were actually the shepherd's sheep, the ones he had a relationship with. Later on, he would describe them as wheat and tares, with the same conversation. The fact that someday in the future he would look over the herd of humanity, many of whom would look like they belonged to him. They believed in him, but the reality was they would not, and he would make that declaration on that day to those who were the pretenders. He would say, Depart from me. I never knew you. And in that moment, he would separate the sheep from the goats, the real followers from the pretenders. And then this happened. He made a statement that should shake us all. He said, then he will say to those on his left, depart from me. You who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. There are some things that I want to points I want to make in this moment. First, I want to talk about the phrase rest in peace. Over the years as a pastor, obviously, I have dealt with uh uh many, many families that are going through those times of lost. And I've heard on many occasions that phrase rest in peace. And I must tell you that in that moment, when I hear family members saying that, sometimes I could rejoice with them because I knew the individual, I knew the history. We'd had the conversation. I was very secure that they did know the Lord, that they were in fact one of his sheep, that they were in his present on that day, presence on that day. And that was a real real statement of comfort for me, because I knew, based on everything I saw anyway, that they were resting in peace. But sometimes that was almost a tragic statement because I wasn't sure. In fact, based on what I knew, I was fairly convinced that they did not know what would bring them peace. And they were not resting at that moment. And it was a fearful thought to me. In this statement here, uh, you see a couple of things. Number one, one thing I want to point out, and and I'm not sure everyone understands this, but scripture makes it clear that everyone lives forever. Everyone. Every single person in this room will live forever. Every person in this city will live forever. Every person in the state, in the world, every factor, in fact, every person historically speaking, on into the future, will live forever. That's a given. We were made for eternity. But secondly, and you see it in this verse, not everyone will spend their forever with God in heaven. Not everyone will know that peace. Some will spend their eternity in a place as described as eternal fire, uh place of eternal suffering. Uh, the worst of it, I think, is it's a place of eternal separation from God. We we don't talk about that much. We talk about the good stuff, the happy stuff, and and I get it. That's what I want to talk about as well. And and maybe especially as on an Easter Sunday. Uh but it's a mistake to ignore what could be if we don't make the right choices. I want you to notice something else in this verse, because I think this is really something that is often misunderstood. The folks that end up in this place that is a separation from God of suffering, you see in this verse, they're not supposed to be there. Do you see it? This wasn't a place made for them. It's not, it was not made for any of us or anyone we know. This is not what God wants for them, for us. It was never his plan. This is the place that was prepared for the devil and the fallen angels. It wasn't made for us. We're not supposed to go there. But people that don't take advantage of God's offer, the offer of forgiveness, the offer that was the reason that Christ hung on that cross, why he was making payment, why he was dying, so that God could offer you and I paid for in full good news, forgiveness, and a restored relationship with God. That's what God had in mind for all of us, because he wants us to spend life with him forever. He wants us to know in all of its wonderful glory what peaceful rest is all about. The reason my heart went this direction this week is uh as I was preparing for the message, and and if uh you're here this morning, you're a guest. We're so glad you're here. You may not be right now, you think, wow, we started off pretty heavy. He should have got up on the other side of the bed or something, I don't know. Uh, but we're really glad you're here. Thank you for sharing this day and this time with us. But we're working right now through a a uh uh series of a message where we're looking over this thing. It's it we're in Ephesians 6 if you want to get there in your Bibles. Uh uh and uh we're gonna be actually down in verse 15 uh today. But we're walking through uh what the apostle Paul describes as uh an armor uh that God has given to those, to those who are his followers, to those who have made that decision to accept that forgiveness that and uh that restored relationship. In fact, adoption into his family becomes our heavenly father. And so he says, and because of that, because we're in the middle of a world right now that uh where we are dealing with a powerful and destructive enemy who is trying to do everything he can, first of all, to keep anybody from ever making that decision to accept that gift of forgiveness. That's what he started with. He doesn't want you to ever make that decision. If he's gonna go to hell, he's gonna take as many others as he can with him. That's that's his plan. Uh but if you accept that gift of forgiveness, uh he's he's still your enemy. He's after you. And and so Paul says, God has given us, each of us, this special armor for our protection. And so we're walking down through what that means. And actually, we're gonna skip the next piece today, we'll go skipping down to verse 15, because as I read this week uh and looking down through this, uh, this next piece of armor, uh, what caught my eye was the word peace. And I started thinking about that peace. Uh, if you look at verse 15, what you'll read is uh with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. When we say regarding a loved one that has passed away, rest in peace. The peace we're talking about, the peace that is mentioned here in Paul's list of the armor supplied for us by God, uh, uh it's a peace we all have. And it's a peace that can't be taken away from us, but even more so, it's a peace that once we recognize it and recognize it that it is part of the armor that God has given us and has placed on us, uh, not only is it a peace that we look forward to in the future, it is a peace that we discover we have now. And I don't know about you, but in our world right now, uh I don't know anybody that isn't looking for some kind of a peace. And it's a peace that God wants to supply for us. Uh when we got into this passage, we found that Paul was using actually a picture, a couple analogies. He talked about the uh the fact that we're in a wrestling match with this enemy. And and we talked about what that meant, this wrestling match. Uh in Paul's day, it wouldn't have been a whole lot different than what we think about today when if you were in high school wrestling. Uh uh in Paul's day, it would be the Roman matches, would be uh they'd have the uh three sessions and and you go up against your opponent. Uh the difference was a winner or a loss was simply if you could get your opponent off his feet and on the ground, you won. Uh, and and so he uses that analogy, and he says, that's what our enemy is trying to do is to knock us off our feet, to get us on the ground, to destroy us, to hurt us, to to cause us to lose that peace. Uh and then he used a second analogy. He said that we're we're we're in this battle, and that's where the armor comes into place. We are we are fighting a battle against that enemy who is bent on our destruction. Uh he can't destroy you if you know Christ as your Savior, uh, but he can do everything in his power to discourage you, to defeat you, to defeat me. And so see, he says, I've given you this armor. And in this case, part of this armor is these shoes that are the gospel or the good news of peace. They are a constant reminder of where we stand in our relationship with God because of Jesus Christ and what he's done for us. Uh they're they're a uh uh they're on your feet because they're a reminder that you are firm. The enemy can't take, knock you down. Uh you will not lose that peace. You can stand to the enemy. In fact, I saw a picture of uh the Roman shoes that uh what they actually looked like. And you notice those uh looks like metals, rounded off spikes on the bottom. And that would help the Roman soldiers to to dig in and not be knocked over. Uh the enemy would like you to lose your peace, but uh God has said that it is for sure. He's taking care of you. If you know Christ as your Savior, uh rest in peace applies to you. And not just in the days ahead, but even now. It was interesting as I looked at the word peace, I came across another verse in which the same Greek word shows up. Paul, as he wrote to the Roman church, wrote this. Therefore, since we've been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It's the same word here that shows up, and and it points us to where we get that peace, where you can have that protection if you don't have it already. Uh, where are those shoes that uh bring stability in in our relationship with God, where they come from? And and it's not from being a good religious person, and it's not from memorizing a lot of scripture, it's not from being on the member rolls of such and such a church. Uh this peace comes from one place, and that is accepting God's offer, this justification that comes to us through faith, when we invite what our Savior did for us on the cross, when we invite him to apply it to our lives. That Friday, that Friday what we spent time together thinking about this past Friday, that Friday when everything seemed so very dark, peace seemed so out of the picture, such an impossibility. The hopes and dreams of those who've been following Jesus for over three years were dashed. They hung on a cross in a body that now seemed to have breathed its last. Peace seemed to be an impossibility. It was Friday. And Friday had brought to them a loss of hope, a loss of dreams in their minds. Everything that they expected Jesus to do had come to an end. It was Friday. Years ago, I heard a message by a man named Tony Campolo, a teacher in a university in Philadelphia, and he talked about, he's a believer, and he talked about that he uh over the Easter weekend had visited a church, and uh in and it was a black church, and he was uh had in real, he enjoyed the message and and heard the pastor talk about uh all the things that we talk about during the Easter day. And but he began to talk about how dark things seemed to be when it seemed as if the Savior had died. And maybe you're stuck in Friday. Where things seem dark, there's no real hope. You're stuck in just. Trying to make it. Unsure of what the future holds, hoping that maybe it's something better, but no certainty. You're stuck in Friday.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

It's Friday. Jesus was nailed dead on a cross. But it's only Friday. Sunday's coming. It's Friday. Mary's crying her eyes out because Jesus is dead. But it's only Friday. Sunday's coming. It's Friday. The disciples are running around like sheep without a shepherd, but it's only Friday. Sunday's coming. It's Friday. Pilate's strutting around washing his hands because he thinks he's got all the power and victory. But it's only Friday. Sunday's coming. It's Friday. People are saying, as things have been, so they shall be. You can't change anything in this world. But it's only Friday. Sunday's coming. It's Friday. Satan's doing a jig saying, I control the whole world, but it's only Friday. Sunday's coming. It's Friday. The temple veil ripped from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split, and the tombs opened. The centurion screamed in fear. Truly, he is the Son of God. But it's only Friday. Sunday's coming. It's Sunday. The angel, like dazzling lightning, rolled the stone away, exclaiming, He is not here. He is risen. It's Sunday. It's Sunday. It is Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 24:25

So where are you? Are you stuck in Friday? Stuck wondering what your future holds? Stuck in that time where there's really seems to be nothing to grab on to for hope? Are you stuck hoping for peace, but that's all it is? Is a maybe for you? But that's not where Jesus wants you to be. And that's not why he hung on that cross. And that's not why he suffered that death. He suffered that death so that you could be in Sunday. This is your opportunity this morning because he is alive to step into Sunday by inviting Jesus Christ to apply what he did on the cross for you, that forgiveness that he's offering as a gift, by accepting that forgiveness and stepping into Sunday as a child of God. Let's pray. Father, I pray that everyone in this room is in Sunday. That they know you not just about you, not just know that you're a historical figure. They actually know you as their savior, that they have accepted that offer of forgiveness that you have given as a gift because you paid the price for it. And so they have said those words to you. Jesus, I believe in you. I believe you died for me, and I accept that forgiveness you're offering. And if not, Lord, I pray that that is the conversation they have with you today. Maybe even before they leave this room. Jesus, I do believe in you. I do believe you died for me. I do accept that offer of forgiveness. And thank you, Lord, if that conversation has taken place. And they're in Sunday, they are your child. And they can have the rest in your peace now. And when the day comes that they step into eternity, they'll step into that forever peace. Thank you, Lord, for dying for us and making such a wonderful, grace-filled offer. We pray these things in your son's name.

unknown 27:11

Amen.

SPEAKER_03 27:14

Church, as we close this morning, let's stand and sing one last chorus together.