The Power of the Resurrection pt. 1

Mark Finley: Be assured, if you walk with him and look to him and expect help from him, he will never fail. Be assured if you walk with him...
Narrator (Male): This is HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message: The Power of the Resurrection, Part One. Enjoy and remember you can always catch up on past messages and stay up to date with HopeLives365 and Pastor Mark by going to hopelives365.com.
Mark Finley: Troublous times had come. Jerusalem faced a major crisis. The Roman armies continuously persecuted both Jews and Christians. And soon, the Roman armies would fiercely attack Jerusalem. Soon, unimaginable hunger would grip thousands. Soon, bodies would lie in the streets. Soon, the temple at Jerusalem would be in flames. And believers needed a message of encouragement, a message of hope that would take them through the challenges ahead. Because in 70 AD, Titus and the Roman armies would come down and attack that city viciously. In 65 AD, the Apostle Paul wrote the book of Hebrews. Now, I know that some scholars aren't sure who wrote Hebrews, but the evidence in my mind is that Paul wrote it. So, shortly before Jerusalem was in flames, Paul writes Hebrews. Why? Because he knows that the temple at Jerusalem is going to be destroyed. He knows that Jewish Christians still had some reverence for that temple. He wants to encourage God's people. Now, the theme of the book of Hebrews is this: the sacrifice of Christ is far better than the sacrifice of bulls and goats. Secondly, the priesthood of Christ is far better than the earthly priesthood. Thirdly, the heavenly sanctuary is far better than the earthly sanctuary. So, all of this is the result of the resurrection of Christ. So, Paul's whole intent in the book of Hebrews is to direct us from Earth to Heaven. It's to direct us to the fact that Christ is alive. The tomb is empty. Our High Priest lives. And Paul does this in 14 "let us" statements. Now, that's "let us," not "lettuce." You missed it! Not "lettuce" that you serve on sandwiches. It is "let us" statements, 14 "let us" statements. And in 14 "let us" statements in the book of Hebrews, Paul sets out the power of the resurrection. We are going to look at seven of those today because these "let us" statements were given to inspire a group of people that would face challenges. We too are facing challenges. Troublous times are coming. So, these "let us" statements reveal the eternal truth of how the resurrection of Christ impacts us. Now, the first "let us" statement shows us that the resurrected Christ, or resurrected power, provides the strength for us to hold fast to the one who's faithfully holding fast to us. The text: Hebrews chapter four, verses 14 and 15. Hebrews the fourth chapter, as we study the first of seven of the 14 "let us" statements. Hebrews the fourth chapter. We start there with the 14th verse: "Seeing then"—what, everybody?—"seeing then that we have a great High Priest. The tomb is empty. Christ is alive. We have a great High Priest who's passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God." First "let us" statement, read it with me please: "Let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin." The first "let us" statement says, "let us" do what? Hold fast. What does it mean to hold fast? It means to seize, or to persevere, or to endure, or cling tenaciously as for one's life. In other words, let us hold fast to Jesus. Let us hold fast to our faith. Let us hold fast to the truth of God's Word. You see, life at times is like a roller coaster with its sharp curves, rapidly descending falls, and dizzying heights. And you'd better cling onto Christ with every ounce of energy you have if you're on the roller coaster of life. You know, life at times is like a bucking bronco in the rodeo of life. If you don't hang on to Christ, you are soon in this rodeo of life going to be thrown off and have your face in the dirt. Life at times is like a white water rafting with the rapids raging and the rafts being tossed. And if you're on the rapids of life and you don't hold on to Christ, you can end up on the rocks shattered and bruised very, very quickly. But our text tells us not only to hold fast, but it also tells us why we can hold fast. What does the text say? Why can we hold fast? You see, Jesus, the divine Son of God, the risen Christ, understands our needs. He knows our heartaches. He knows our trials. He's experienced loss as we have experienced it. And in this earthly life, Jesus has experienced every temptation, every loss that we possibly have ever gone through. And now he's our resurrected Lord, our living Savior, our heavenly High Priest. We serve a risen Savior. Now, Hebrews 10 verse 23 is very similar. And as we go to Hebrews 10 verse 23, the text tells us why and how we can hold fast. It says, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." We hold fast to him, but he is holding fast to us. You see, the reason we can hold fast to Jesus is because Jesus holds fast to us. Let us hold fast. What does the text say without wavering? Now, wavering is the opposite of holding fast. It's vacillating. It's equivocating. It's a weak faith that's up today and down tomorrow. Holding fast is a commitment that says, "I'll never let go of Jesus because Jesus will never let go of me." Holding fast is a commitment to never give up, never surrender to the temptation of Satan, to never let doubts destroy our faith, never to be overwhelmed by life's challenges, never to let go of the truths that Christ has revealed in his word. But how is this possible? When I'm so weak, how is it possible to hold so fast? When my faith at times is wavering, how can I hold fast? When I vacillate so much, how can I hold fast? I can hold fast knowing that Jesus is holding me fast. I can hold fast because my text says that he is holding fast to me. There is a wonderful hymn that's written by Ada Habershon. And the story of that hymn is quite remarkable. We sing a modern version of the hymn that says, "He Will Hold Me Fast." Do you remember that hymn, "He Will Hold Me Fast"? There's a modern version, but the ancient version comes when an evangelist by the name of Wilbur Chapman was holding meetings—large meetings—and his pianist was a man by the name of Mr. Harkness. And a young man came up to Mr. Harkness and he said, "Mr. Harkness, my faith is so weak. I just can't hold on. My faith is just too weak. I think I'm going to give up. I think I'm going to surrender." And Harkness remembered Ada Habershon. And he remembered this great woman of faith, a woman of scripture. He had met her in England. She was living in England. Chapman was holding his evangelistic meetings in the United States. And so he wrote to her and he said, "Look, what text can you give me? What poem can you write?" because she wrote many hymns, "that will help a young man." Well, you know, when you write to England in those days—this is in the 1800s, 1906—they were in Toronto, Canada. Well, they moved to Philadelphia to hold their evangelistic meetings with the Wilbur Chapman-Harkness team. And as they did, pretty soon after weeks came by, Ada Habershon scrolled some things on a piece of paper and sent it to Harkness. And he's sitting at the piano playing, and Wilbur Chapman is preaching, and he pulls out the paper out of his pocket during the sermon. He had stopped playing now, of course, and pulls it out, and he begins to read this text: that God will hold me fast and Hebrews, God is faithful. And all of a sudden, words come to his mind because Ada Habershon had given him some basic for this poem. And this melody comes to his mind. And he puts melody to Ada Habershon's words. And here's what he writes: "When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast. When the tempter would prevail, he will hold me fast. I could never keep my hold through life's fearful path, for my love is often cold; he must hold me fast. He will hold me fast. He will hold me fast, for my Savior loves me so, and he will hold me fast." The next night they sang that song and taught it to the audience, "He Will Hold Me Fast." The congregation was deeply moved. At the end of the meeting, a young man came up to Wilbur Chapman, the evangelist, and he said, "I was about ready to give up my faith, about ready to throw it in. The journey was long. The mountain was high. The road was rough. But this thought hit me: if Christ is holding me so tightly, if Christ is holding me so fast, if Christ will not let me go, I will cling to him." The resurrected Christ says to you today: however weak you perceive your faith to be, I will hold you fast.
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Mark Finley: "I'm never going to let you go." Paul writes seven "let us" statements in the book of Hebrews to encourage the church before the destruction of Jerusalem. And we know that the destruction of Jerusalem is a type, a symbol of the destruction of the world before the coming of Christ. And there, Paul says to that church in the middle of those trials, trust the resurrected Christ who will never let you go, who will hold you fast. We move to the second "let us" statement. We find that very close to the first one in Hebrews chapter four. Resurrection power in this second statement provides the privilege for us to enter the presence of God by faith and receive help in every time of need. Hebrews the fourth chapter. We look now at the 16th verse, Hebrews 4 verse 16. "Let us therefore come boldly"—that means confidently—"to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Let us, let us do what, everybody? Let us come. What must we do? What does the scripture say? What must we do? Come. How are we to come? Confidently, boldly, believing that the one who has promised will fulfill his word. You know, in a book titled *Testimonies for the Church* to encourage the people of God, I read this statement. I'd like you to read it with me from the screen. "Only believe in God." Let's start it together. "Only believe in God, take him at his word, act in faith, and blessings will come." Notice four things. The first thing is to do what? Believe. Second thing is to do what? Take him at his word. Third thing is to do what? Act in faith. And then what's the result of all that? Blessings will come. Only believe in God. Take him at his word. Act in faith and blessings will come. Where are we to come? To the throne of grace. What is the throne of grace? It's the throne of grace. What does the scripture say? Let us do what? Come confidently, where? To the throne of grace. Who sits there? Jesus, the resurrected Lord. Why do we come? To obtain mercy, find grace to help in what time? The time of need. Now, here's an amazing truth: Jesus is our perfect High Priest because he's fully God and he's fully man, because he has experienced all of life's challenges, all of life's trials, all of life's temptations. He can walk the journey with us, provides us understanding, sympathy, strength, and power. Now, notice the scripture says, "Let us come," and what's the word? Let us come boldly to the throne of grace. How often do we come? We come daily. Daily. See, the individual who makes it a habit to come daily to the throne of grace, the individual who makes it a habit to come daily to the throne of grace for a fresh supply of God's mercy and grace enters into a rest of soul, a peace of mind, a strength of character, an assurance of salvation, and the hope for the future that God provides for every sincere believer. Coming into the presence of God. Let us come confidently to the throne of grace because there sits the resurrected Lord. I love what it's put, the way it's put in Lamentations the third chapter. Take your Bible, please, and turn to Lamentations chapter three. There's a blessing for you, for me, every morning as we come to the throne of grace to receive strength and help and power for that day. Lamentations chapter three, verse 23. Let's go back and pick up 22 and 23. "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." God's compassions, God's mercy, God's strength, God's power for you and me is new every single morning. Resurrection power enables us to hold fast. Resurrection power invites us to come. Thirdly, resurrection power provides for us the joy of daily growing more like Jesus. Hebrews chapter six, verse one, the third of our "let us" statements. We are making a sandwich this morning for the glory of God. All we have is lettuce in our sandwich so far! Hebrews chapter six, verse one: "Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection." That's maturity. Let us go on, let us go on to perfection, not leaving again the foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward God. What is this passage talking about? Paul, very simply, here is saying: keep on growing. It's not in any way saying to forsake or abandon the foundational principles of scripture, but rather it is a hunger and thirst to know more of Christ every day. It's to keep searching the Word for hid treasures. It's to keep exploring to discover something new every day in Jesus, in his word. It says what? "Therefore leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ." In other words, don't get stuck in your Christian experience. Don't come to some plateau where you are simply in some complacent Christian life. Leave those elementary principles. Let us go on to Christian maturity. He's appealing to us to keep growing. The British Secretary of State was Lord Cromwell for a particular period of time. And he wrote in Latin, and we translate into English, in the flyleaf of his Bible these words: "He who ceases to be better, ceases to be good." He who ceases to be better, ceases to be good. In other words, unless you keep growing, unless you keep striving for something beyond. Some people in their Christian life are standing still. They're going nowhere. They're just not growing. There is an expression that the Spanish conquistadors had, the expression that these Spanish sailors had, and the expression was: we're stuck in the doldrums. Now, see, at times when these ships, these sailing ships, they had no engines in the 19th century, they were crossing the sea, and if the wind stopped blowing, they were in trouble. I mean, they were in big time trouble. And so this one ship with Spanish soldiers, sailors, and their horses was stuck in the middle of the Atlantic. No wind was blowing at all. They were running out of food and running out of water. They were in the doldrums—no wind in their sails. They had to make a choice that was a very difficult choice. And this was the choice that they made: throw the horses overboard, drown the horses. Because by doing that, they saved water and saved the life of everybody on that ship. The doldrums spell death with a capital D. A person who said to be in the doldrums when their spiritual life becomes stagnant. You're in the doldrums when there is no wind in your sails to move you forward to the Lord. How do we avoid spiritual inertia? How do we avoid the doldrums of the spiritual life? Hebrews 6 says, it urges us to go on to perfection. The word perfection there means spiritual maturity. The mature Christian is constantly examining their heart to see that there's nothing between them and Jesus. The mature Christian is constantly hungering and thirsting for more of Christ. The mature Christian is day by day growing in grace. The mature Christian is constantly seeking for a deeper spiritual experience. You know, I like the way that old hymn puts it: "More about Jesus I would know, more of his love to others show, more of his saving fullness see, more of his love who died for me. More about Jesus let me learn, more of his holy will discern. Spirit of God, my teacher be, showing the things of Christ to me. More about Jesus in his word, holding communion with my Lord. Hearing his voice in every line, making each faithful teaching mine. More about Jesus I would know." Echoing and re-echoing down through the centuries are the words of the Apostle Paul: "Let us go on. Let us not be stuck where we are in our Christian experience. Let us keep digging deeper and deeper for the truths of God's Word."
Narrator (Male): You've been listening to HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you've enjoyed today's message and remind you that you can find more in our many ministry resources at hopelives365.com. And you can support this ministry by going to hopelives365.com/donate. And now, a final thought from Pastor Mark.
Mark Finley: First, let us hold fast. Second, let us come. Third, let us, let us go on. Fourth, let us. Resurrection power provides an opportunity for us to draw nearer to Jesus than we ever could possibly imagine. Hebrews 10, verse 22. Hebrews 10, you're looking there at verse 22. Here's your fourth "let us" statement out of the seven of the 14 that we'll study this morning. Hebrews the 10th chapter, the 22nd verse. The scripture puts it this way, Hebrews 10 verse 22: "Let us draw near." Let us do what? Draw near. "In full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us draw near." Now, drawing near implies something far more than mere belief. It's not simply enough to believe. Heaven's invitation is to draw near. So, Christianity is not simply a matter of the head. It's a matter of the heart as well. It's not only knowing what we believe. It's knowing who we believe. Let us draw near. Drawing near implies an intimate communion and fellowship with God. Here's the beauty of this passage: Jesus, our great High Priest, leads us directly into the presence of God. Amen.