Kidney stones and Heart stones
Kidney stones and Heart stones Matthew 28:1-10 nv 4/18/04 a.m.
OS: A Three friends arrived at the Pearly Gates at the same time. As part of their orientation to heaven, Saint Peter asked what kind of remarks they would most like to hear from their family and friends at their funerals. "I would like to hear them say I was a great doctor and a good family man," said the first. "I would like to hear that I was a wonderful husband and that during my career as a schoolteacher I made a difference in many lives," chimed in the second fellow. "Those both sound terrific," replied the third, "but I'd like to hear them say, 'Look! He's moving!'"
I. Death is irreversible. Christ reverses the irreversible.
A. "Death used to be an executioner, but the gospel has made him just a gardener."
B. Precisely because the stone was rolled away. Jesus experienced death so that He could defeat death and free us from the fear of death.
II. Let’s read Matthew 28:1-10 (B – C – D)
A. Notice: The women were afraid yet filled with joy. The first thing Jesus said was Do not be afraid, God and tell…
B. Notice also that Jesus was already gone from the tomb before the stone was rolled away.
1. E The Stone was not rolled away for Jesus, it was rolled away for us!
III. There are countless implications of the stone being rolled away.
A. The women who came to the tomb that Easter morning did wonder how they would move the stone to finish off the embalming process that was used in those days...and to their surprise the stone was moved for them and for us by God. Can we stop for a moment and think about the rocks in our lives? The things that block us from having a resurrected faith. Rocks and stones in our lives can cause us to stumble. By removing these rocks in your life -- whatever it is that holds you back from a resurrected faith -- you can begin to live by that same power that brought Jesus from the grave.
1. F Ephesians 1 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know … his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
B. The power of God rolled the rock away. Jesus didn't have to have the rock removed to get out. The stone was rolled away not for Jesus to get out but for us to get in.
C. Our typical response is to roll our own stones back into it’s place. We close ourselves off to the power of God.
TS] This is how we do that….We roll the stone back into place…
I. G When we give up the fight against sin.
A. :Hebrews 12:1-2, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
B. Make no mistake about it! Sin will hinder your effort to experience the power of God in your life, and you ability to make your life really count.
C. This is a stone we must decide to overcome!
1. :Genesis 4 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
2. "Listen, I'm against sin. I'll kick it as long as I've got a foot. I'll fight it as long as I've got a fist. I'll butt it as long as I've got a head. And I'll bite it as long as I've got a tooth, and when I'm old, fistless, footless and toothless, I'll gum it till I go home to glory and it goes home to perdition." —Billy Sunday, evangelist of 1900s.
D. Rising early one morning, a man said, "I heard the barking of a number of dogs chasing a deer. Looking at a large open field in front of me, I saw a young fawn making its way across the field and giving signs that its race was almost run. It leaped over the rails of the enclosed place and crouched within ten feet of where I stood. A moment later two of the hounds came over, and the fawn ran in my direction and pushed its head between my legs. I lifted the little thing to my breast, and, swinging round and round, fought off the dogs. Just then I felt that all the dogs in the West could not and would not capture that fawn after its weakness had appealed to my strength.
1. So is it when human helplessness appeals to Almighty God. I remember well when the hounds of sin were after my soul that at last I ran into the arms of Almighty God.
2. Prayer is the key to overcoming sin.
TS] Our typical response is to roll our own stones back into it’s place. We close ourselves off to the power of God. This is how we do that….We roll the stone back into place…We give up the fight against sin, and…
II. H When we shrink back because of fear.
A. Hebrews 12:1-2, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
1. afraid yet filled with joy….10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.
B. We live in a fearful world. “How to stay safe in the world today:”
1. Avoid riding in automobiles because they are responsible for 20 percent of all fatal accidents.
2. Do not stay home because 17 percent of all accidents occur in the home.
3. Avoid walking on streets or sidewalks because 14 percent of all accidents occur to pedestrians.
4. Avoid traveling by air, rail, or water because 16 percent of all accidents involve these forms of transportation.
5. Of the remaining 33 percent, 32 percent of all deaths occur in hospitals. Above all else, avoid hospitals
6. You will be pleased to learn that only .001 percent of all deaths occur in worship services in church, and these are usually related to previous physical disorders. Therefore, logic tells us that the safest place for you to be at any given point in time is at church! Bible study is safe, too. The percentage of deaths during Bible study is even less.
7. For safety sake, attend church and read your Bible…it could save your life.
C. We can have quite a large list of fear that affect our relationship with God and our accomplishing of His mission for our lives.
1. #1 fear = change. (individually and corporately as a church)
2. Fear of not being accepted by our social norms.
D. :1 John 4 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
1. The more you strive to Love God and love people the more you overcome both of those fears.
TS] Our typical response is to roll our own stones back into it’s place. We close ourselves off to the power of God. This is how we do that….We roll the stone back into place…We give up the fight against sin, shrink back because of fear, and…
III. I When we sit in complacency.
A. Hebrews 12:1-2, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
1. :Amos 6:1, Woe to you who are complacent in Zion,
B. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please, not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of him to make me love the unloveable or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.
1. "Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important." — C. S. Lewis
2. There is no such thing as complacent Christians! Only complacent people who wish to call themselves Christians.
C. Many people neglect the task that lies at hand and are content with having wished to do the impossible.
1. That is not God’s desire for this Church!
2. How could we be complacent when the souls of men and women are at stake? How could we be complacent when our Lord and our Savior died on a cross for the sins of our world?
3. How could we be complacent when He paid such a price?
IV. J We exist to bring glory to God through helping people know Jesus, grow to be like Him, and show Him to the world.
A. We are in the people business!
B. We must not allow sin, fear, nor complacency to get in the way!
C. Jesus has rolled away the stones on our behalf. The stone of sin is moved by His blood, the stone of fear is deemed unfounded, “Do not be afraid”, and the stone of complacency is abolished by the price He paid.
D. So, what’s holding you back?