|
WEEKLY
Volume 1 Number 45
8 April 2007
Our Living Lord and
Saviour
(Message delivered by Pr Hien
Nguyen at the Easter Sunday Worship Service, 2 pm, April 8, 2007)
Text:
John 20:19-31
We give thanks and praise to
the Lord for this day, the first day of the week, the day of
resurrection and the day of worship. In the Old Testament, God’s people
gathered to worship the Lord on the Sabbath Day or Saturday, but since
our Lord Jesus came to this world, died for our sins and rose again on
the first day of the week, God’s people has worshipped the Lord on the
first day of the week. The death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the foundation of our faith, salvation, and ministry. Truly
Christ “was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our
justification” (Rom 4:25), and if Christ had not risen, our
preaching is vain and our faith is also vain and we are still in our
sins, and “if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all
men most miserable” (1 Cor 15:14, 17, 19). A dead person cannot see,
hear, move, nor help. If Christ were not living, it would be a waste of
time for us to gather here to worship Him, to pray to Him or sing to
Him, and we sinners can never come near to the holy and righteous God!
And when we are in trouble or are afflicted, a dead Saviour could not
help us or save us. However, Christ did rise from the dead and He is
living now. Praise the Lord! He is our living Lord and Saviour. His
resurrection proves that He is the Son of God and His atoning sacrifice
for our sins has been accepted by God the Father and that He has
overcome Satan, death, and the world. His resurrection secures our
salvation, “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost
that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them” (Heb 7:25). His resurrection fulfils God’s Word which is
living and true and able to transform our lives. And His resurrection
ensures His glorious return which will be soon as He promised (Matt 24;
Rev 22:12) and ensures the resurrection of those believers who died in
Him to be with Him (1 Thess 4:16). Now let us have a look at the
gathering of Jesus’ disciples on the first day of the week and His
presence and blessings in their midst.
The First Day of the Week
In verse 19, “Then the same
day at evening, being the first day of the week,” and then verse 26,
“after 8 days,” the first day of the week again, our Lord
appeared and stood in their midst. In the book of Acts chapter 20 verses
6-7, the apostle Paul was in Troas for seven days, but God’s people
gathered together to have the Lord’s supper on the first day of the
week. What do you and I do on the Lord’s Day, my friends? May God help
us keep His day holy with proper worship and service.
Jesus Christ’s Presence and
Revelation
Our Lord Jesus Christ has
promised “For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there I am in the midst of them” (Matt 18:20), and He was really
present with His disciples in their meeting. Our Lord Jesus rose from
the dead and He is our living Redeemer and Saviour. My friends, when we
gather together to worship our Father in the Name of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, He is surely in our midst with His blessings.
Then He “shewed unto them his hands and his side” (v 20) to prove
that He is the risen Lord and Saviour to strengthen their faith. Every
time we gather to worship the Lord and study His Word, surely we will
know more about Him and get more wisdom from Him and our faith will be
strengthened.
True Peace from the Lord
The disciples gathered in one
room, the doors were shut for fear of the Jews. When our Lord Jesus
appeared to them, stood in their midst and gave them His peace, saying,
“Peace be unto you” (vv 19, 21, 26), His peace really cast out
their fear. Our Lord Jesus still gives us His peace today, my friends.
He says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you:
not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it
be afraid” (John
14:27). Who can give us peace in this world of sins, troubles, worries,
uncertainties, changes, deceptions, or hostility? Except for the living
Saviour Jesus Christ, no one nor anything in this world can give us true
peace. We do not know what may happen to us tomorrow. Many people may
have peace today when they have good health, good jobs, a nice family,
and a lot of money in the bank. But their peace will disappear when they
suffer a serious illness, lose their jobs, encounter some family
problems, and so forth. My friends, no matter what may happen to us, if
we have our living Saviour, the Prince of Peace, with us, we have His
peace, “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall
keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7). If our
Saviour Jesus Christ had not risen, we would never have true peace or
hope in this world, and our lives would be the most miserable!
True Joy from the Lord
Verse 20 tells us, “Then
were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord,” exactly as Jesus
said to them before His death, “I will see you again, and your heart
shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you” (John 16:22). My
friends, do you and I have this joy? Many people may go to church to
worship the Lord, but not many have met the Lord personally and have
this joy. No one nor anything in this world can give us true joy. Many
people admit that they feel bored when they do not have anything to do.
They have to seek worldly entertainment, pleasure or friendship, and
they may rejoice when they get what they like or desire, but their joy
will not last long. May God graciously help you and me to wisely seek
Him and rejoice in Him so that He may fill our hearts with His true and
lasting joy. If our Saviour Jesus Christ had not risen, we would never
have this true joy. Thank God for His joy, which is our strength and
still with us even in our troubles, afflictions, trials, as we know that
He is with us and He is able to make all things work together for good
unto us.
Service and Mission from
the Lord
Jesus said to His disciples,
“As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you” (v 21). This is
the service and mission from our living Saviour. No resurrection, no
mission! If our Saviour had not risen from the dead, our service or
ministry would be in vain because it would have no life and our calling
would be false! But He is living, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be
ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1
Cor 15:58). Our mission in this world is to preach the Gospel to the
lost and to teach God’s Word to the converts. And this is our
responsibility as Jesus says, “Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are
remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained”
(v 23). We know from the Bible that only God, the Lord Jesus, has
power to forgive our sins and to cleanse our hearts by His own blood.
Then this verse tells about our responsibility. If we do not share His
Gospel to others, the forgiveness or the remission of sins is shut to
them! May Christ’s love constrain us to share His salvation to others.
The Ministry of the Holy
Spirit
Jesus breathed on His
disciples and said unto them, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost” (v 22).
Our Lord Jesus knows that without Him we cannot do anything, so He does
not require us to do what is beyond our ability without His grace. He
gives us responsibilities and duties, and He also gives us the Holy
Spirit to help us fulfil all righteousness. It is the Holy Spirit who
convicts us of our sins, reveals God and His truth to us, regenerates
us, sanctifies us, teaches us, guides us into all truth, and empowers us
to live and serve according to God’s will. We do need the Holy Spirit,
another Comforter, as we do need the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
The command in Ephesians 5:18, “Be filled with the Spirit” means “Keep
on being controlled by the Holy Spirit.” May God help us realise our
weaknesses and our sinful nature so that we may humbly submit ourselves
to the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit and then we may bear His
fruit in our lives with love, joy, peace, longsufferings, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Gal 5:22-23) and be empowered
to keep God’s Word and serve Him faithfully until the end.
Blessing of Believing
without Seeing
We do not know the reasons why
Thomas was absent in the first meeting. Missing that meeting, Thomas
missed precious blessings of the Lord Jesus’ presence and revelation,
His peace and joy, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Therefore,
the Bible says, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,
as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the
more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb 10:25).
Our Lord Jesus says, “It is
also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true”
(John 8:17). It is enough to have two witnesses, but here with the
testimony of ten disciples saying unto Thomas, “We have seen the
Lord,” he missed the blessing of believing without seeing by his
unbelief, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails,
and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into
his side, I will not believe” (v 25). When the disciples including
Thomas gathered together, our Lord Jesus appeared again and said to
Thomas, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach
hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but
believing” (v 27). This proved that our risen Lord Jesus saw, heard
and knew what happened during the week. Thomas must have been
embarrassed, surprised and frightened, confessing to Jesus, “My Lord
and my God” (v 28). Our Lord Jesus said unto him “Thomas, because
thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not
seen, and yet have believed” (v 29). My friends, let us confess that
Jesus Christ is our Lord and our God. God has inspired and preserved His
Word and given it to mankind so that they may know about Him and His
salvation for them in Jesus Christ. We have not seen Jesus’ death nor
His resurrection, and we are blessed more by believing that truth
because God’s Word says so. To obtain His
blessings, we must believe that God’s Word is true (Ps 119:160) and
submit ourselves to His Word without any doubts or questions, “But
these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through
his name” (v 31).
Conclusion
My friends, Jesus Christ is our living Lord and
Saviour. Through His resurrection, our faith, our worship, our service
and ministry will not be in vain. And only in Him will we have true
peace, true joy, and true mission and enjoy the ministry of the Holy
Spirit. May the Lord graciously help us believe in Him and His inspired
and preserved Word with our full dependence and submission, and then be
constrained by His love, by His grace and strength to faithfully share
the good news of His salvation to others till He comes back again soon.
All glory be unto Him. Amen.
Top
/ Back
|
