Sermon Tone Analysis

Peace

It was still Sunday…it was evening of the day in which Mary Magdalen had seen Jesus alive.

Ten of Jesus’ disciples (Judas was no more and Thomas was not among them) were gathered together in the locked room.

The doors were locked — Can you imagine what it was like to be a follower of Jesus in that moment?

You had watched Jesus, the one you love, your Messiah and Lord, be tortured brutally and crucified.

They were afraid of what comes next!

They were looking for Jesus to be a warrior who would usher in a new Kingdom of Israel but now He is dead and their dreams are shattered.

They knew the authorities were doing all they could to crush not only the person of Christ but His message as well…they knew they were looking for them to kill next.

The fear, despair, disappointment and depression found among these men is beyond words to describe.

They had been to the mountain top!

Some of them had even seen Jesus transfigured on the mountain!

Had seen Him in His glory!

And now…every dream and hope shattered.

Mary Magdalen had told them He was alive but they didn’t believe her …

Some probably thought Mary was overcome by grief and hallucinating…the testimony of a woman didn’t matter much in their culture…they really didn’t know what to make of her testimony.

And then Jesus appears…

The appearance of Jesus was a supernatural act as He simply materialized in the middle of the room.

Just as His body went through the grave clothes, it now went through the door.

Peace be with you — Literally this means to “be without trouble” or “to sit down in one’s heart.”

Jesus was literally telling them to let their hearts rest, relax and be free of all concerns.

Promise of Peace — Jesus had promised the disciples before the cross that He would bring them peace and now here it was!

Jesus shows them His hands and side — Our peace is rooted in the person and work of Jesus!

We have peace, not because we ignore our reasons for fear, not because we deny reasons to fear, we have peace because we take our eyes off of our reasons to fear and put them on Christ and His work for us on the Cross.

Our life is secure in Jesus and the plans He has for us!

Jesus made the statement twice…making it an emphatic point…We are not meant to live in fear but in the peace which Jesus gives us!

If we miss this point we will live a pathetic and broken life.

Jesus was about to give them a great commission…He was about to send them out to share the message of the Cross and salvation…but they first had to turn from fear to faith…take their eyes off of themselves, circumstance and the forces arrayed against them and put their eyes on Christ.

If we do not take our eyes off of our fears and put them on Christ our witness will be forever diminished and called into question.

When people see us fearful like the rest of the world…when they fail to see us face our fears differently than they themselves…they will question if what we believe is real.

Not only this…If do not turn from fear to faith, we will cower in the face of opposition to our message and simply keep our mouth closed about what we believe.

We will not stand for Christ and share the Gospel with the lost.

First things first…Peace be with us!

Joy and Commission

Each Gospel has an account of Jesus commissioning His disciples to go and tell the world the good news of salvation in Him.

John records an occasion differently from that of the more well known commission of Matthew.

This does not mean one happened and the other didn’t…just that Jesus gave a commission on at least on two different ocassions.

As the Father sent Me, I also send you — Jesus was sent from the Father to save us from our sins unto a relationship with God.

Now we have a calling, commission and purpose…To be ministers of the Gospel of Christ and bring salvation to the world…to make disciples

Our life matters but it matters in a much different sense than most folks realize.

Two hundred years from now no one is going to remember how much money you made…no one is going to know how funny you were…no one will remember how pretty…in fact no one will even remember you at all.

Don’t believe me?

Let’s talk about your great great great grandfather?

What did he do for a living?

Where did he live?

What did he look like?

What was his favorite meal?

What was his name?

Life will go on without us someday — The world turned a long time before we ever set foot on the earth and it will keep on turning till the end of time and return of Christ…which means it could be spinning a long time after we leave this earth.

The world didn’t need us before we were born and it won’t need us after we are gone.

Significance — Our significance is found in our relationship with Christ and our work with Him.

Our work is to share hIm.

Ten thousand years from now someone walks up to you as you walk along a street in the new earth…Hey Jim…Hello Stuart…good to see you…well Jim the only reason I am seeing you at all is because of your faithfulness to tell me about Jesus.

I didn’t know who Jesus was until you shared His story with me.

Next up comes Sheila…Hey Sheila great to see you today…Great to see you Jim…I I just want to thank you…for the 10,000th time...for leading our small group…your time with David and I was invaluable to our marriage…you were so encouraging to us…we learned so much about Jesus and how we could serve Him so much better because of our time in that group…our kids became believers because of our witness for Christ and I am not sure we would have had that kind of witness if it had not been for that small group time and your faithfulness to lead and teach us!

Next up is Billy Campbell…Billy how are you brother?!? Well I am in heaven James…so never better and never will be better…this is great!”

True Billy!

Billy I want to thank you for being a greeter at the door of our church every Sunday when I was a kid growing up…you always encouraged me, made me feel better…alway remembered my name and made me feel special…you are one of those people that made me believe faith in Christ was real and it could make a difference in my life!

In such stories we will see the real significance of our life…In heaven I won’t think about how I paid my bills or what kind of car I drove…but I will celebrate every single thing I did to join with Jesus in His ministry of salvation and discipleship to man.

This is where real joy and significance comes from both now and in eternity…being a part of what God is doing on earth to bring men, women and children to Himself and grow them in their relationship with Him

We all need joy and significance…crave it…search for meaning and significance…and we attempt to substitute a million different things to find a fulfilling life…but you will never find a satisfying fulfillment in anything other than Christ and His purpose for your life.

Receive the Holy Spirit —Verse 23

Pentecost had not yet come.

The Spirit had not yet come to take up residence in the lives of believers in Christ.

The reason…Jesus had not left the earth so the Spirit could come.

He still had a few things to do over the course of the 40 days after His resurrection.

But what He did give these men in this moment was what the Old Testament prophets received…the presence of the Holy Spirit upon them.

The Spirit of God came upon these men so they might receive their commission, understand the gravity of it and know the power from which they would do it.

If you forgive — Verse 23 looks confusing to us.

Some will point to it and say, “See…here is the evidence for confession.”

But if we interpret the verse in its correct context we receive the proper meaning of it.

This verse is talking about the great commission and the consequences of accepting or rejecting the message believers in Christ would preach.

Followers of Jesus preach the Gospel and it is the only way to be forgiven of sins and have a relationship with God…if anyone rejects this message they remain in their sins…and we will tell them so.

If we tell someone they remain in their sins because of their rejection of the Gospel of Christ…we do so on the authority of this passage of scripture.

This judgement does not come from us but from Christ.

He put the words in our mouth right here.

We say there is one way to God, one Cross, one baptism, one way to salvation…we say this because the Bible says this…if that message is accepted we can tell those receiving the Gospel that their sins are forgiven…if that message is rejected, we can tell those rejecting it that they are still in their sins…because God has given us the responsibility and commission to tell them so.

Each time someone walks this aisle to receive Christ as their savior from sin we shout, “Your sins are forgiven!

Your sins are forgiven!

Jesus died for your sins and your sins are forgiven!”

But there is the inverse or flip side of that coin too…to some we say, “your sins are retained…your sins aren’t forgiven.”

A Story from the fictional town of Jubilee, Mississippi — Jethro and Ethel were walking down the street of their hometown in Mississippi one day when they came upon the town atheist and lone college graduate Mr Dupree.

Mr Dupree loved to make fun of Jethro and Ethel because they loved Christ and loved to tell others about their relationship with Him.

On this occasion Dupree really let them have it…ridiculing them for the time they wasted each Sunday going to church…telling them they could pay their bills if they would stop giving their money to that charlatan preacher and the cult he led…on and on it went…Finally Jethro spoke…but he only said one word today…usually he would please with Dupree to hear and receive Christ but today he simply said…your sins aren’t forgiven…and walked away.

A few months later Dupree was killed in a car accident outside of town.

Jethro and Ethel went to the funeral where not a word was mentioned of God or anything else about a possible afterlife.

The two filed by the casket, went back to their seats and wept…they were the only ones in the crowd weeping uncontrollably…they wept harder than Dupree’s widow or grown children…finally someone came over and said, “I never knew you loved Mr Dupree like this.”

To which Jethro replied, “his sins…his sins…his sins…weren’t forgiven.”

If there every be a day when we say those words over the life or death of someone it should be done with deep sorrow in our heart.

We never say it with sadistic joy…never with an air of superiority…never with a sense of vindication…never do we stand over the casket of a lost man or woman and think, “They know now!

They know now!

Sorry lot they were…now they know I am right!

Now they know they were wrong!

As they burn in hell.”

No…we simply, softly, with deep sorrow say, “their sins were retained…their sins were never forgiven.”

Conclusions

I believe there are three things God intends for us to take home from this passage of scripture today…peace, joy and commission…and within that last one, our commission I believe He wants us to see the significance of our life.

Peace — Is your life defined by an absence of worry, fear and concern for your troubles?

I am not saying you have no troubles…Jesus said we would have trouble in this life…but how are you facing them when they come?

Turn your eyes upon Jesus…Look full in His wonderful face…and the things of earth will grow strangely dim…in the light of His glory and grace.

The hymn writer didn’t say the things of earth will disappear but they grow dim!