Psalms 85:10, II Chronicles 7:14
#1. In God We Trust:
Good Friday brings our minds to the crucifixion. The crucifixion and resurrection comprise the saving plan of God for mankind. We absolutely need Jesus. Without this saving work of God, you and me would have nowhere to turn for help, hope and assurance. We would be forever condemned in our sin. Good Friday, was pay day for our sins and Christ’s resurrection on Sunday was the receipt that the transaction at Calvary was accepted. Dr. R.G Lee preached his famous sermon “Pay Day Someday” for the first time in a prayer meeting in Edge0field SC. Dr. Lee preached that sermon 1,275 times. Dr, Adrian Rogers was fond of this quote he got from Robert G. Lee: “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay, Sin will cost you more than you want to pay.” Lee’s “Pay Day Someday” sermon had a theme of “repent or perish.” There is a pay day for sin. When Jesus died for our sins, it was “Pay Day.” As the great hymn says “Jesus Paid it all, all to Him I owe.” He paid a debt He did not owe and we owed a debt we could not pay. Jesus is the answer to the world today. Jesus is inviting people to accept Him and follow Him. Good Friday is good for America because the gospel message believed and received produces a virtuous and moral people. And a virtuous and moral people make for a godly nation. A love for God as a nation evokes blessing on the nation. Psalms 33:12 “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” In Ephesians we read about our inheritance in Christ, but we ask ourselves “what did God inherit at the cross?” God inherited us, His inheritance is those that believe and repent, receiving Gods only Begotten Son. You ask yourselves, “will God keep His promise, will He honor His Word?” The resurrection is your receipt. The resurrection is proof that what happened on Friday was paid, accepted. The transaction was made final at the resurrection. What a blessing all this is to us personally. I’ve been born twice, once in natural birth and again in spiritual birth. A birth means life has been created, life has come to be. In my spiritual birth, Jesus gave me spiritual birth and life. Just as our natural birth comes with a nature that reveals itself, so our spiritual birth in Christ also comes with a nature that reveals itself. I’m praying for a baby boom. America needs a baby boom, a boom of newly born Christians. Imagine if there was a spiritual baby boom in America with tens of thousands of people giving their hearts to Jesus. Imagine the impact it would have in our nation. We need the Lord; we need His blessing. We need His forgiveness. We need a spiritual baby boom. May God bless America.
#2. Mercy and truth meet at the Cross:
Psalms 85:10 “Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.”
- Jesus was crucified on Friday, we call this “Good Friday” because there would be no gospel good news apart from the cross. Jesus suffered unrelenting pain and agony for six long hours that you and I could be set free.
- “Mercy and truth met together on the cross. Let’s personify “Truth” and personify “Mercy” then this verse will come alive. Truth said “they are sinners, deserving of judgment”. Truth said “they are fallen, sinful and desperately wicked”. Truth said “The soul who sins shall die….” But one particular Friday planned from eternities past, Mercy met with Truth on the tree. Mercy said, “truth I will take their place.” Truth, I will be born of a virgin so that My blood will not have Adams sin, but My blood will be divine.” “Truth, I will identify with men and live for 33 years that perfect life of righteousness before the Father.” I will take their sin and their punishment upon Myself on a particular Friday.” Truth “I will rise again three days later with pardons for sinners in My hand” At this plan, Mercy and Truth joyfully and excitedly agreed. Then on the cross while Mercy and Truth were executing their plan, suddenly Jesus (Mercy & Truth) with a thunderous voice cried out “It is finished.” At this, “Righteousness and peace have kissed.” This kiss meant that the righteous requirement we needed and the hostility between God and man could end in Jesus, thus creating peace between God and man. So, as believers how should we respond to such love? The bible says in I Peter 1:16. “because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” As believers we are called to be salt and light in our world just as Jesus was salt and Light when He was in the world. We have choices as believers, we can drift from Him or draw to Him. If we drift, we are asking for the chastening hand of God. If we draw, He will draw near to us. Let’s choose to “draw near Him”. I can’t think of a better time than now.
#3. Keep your witness strong:
If you are knowingly living in sin then you are in rebellion against God. It’s a fight you cannot win. Scripture says in Numbers 32:23 “…behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.” ask yourself; how do I know if what I am doing is sin? First, the world will praise you. The world will not have a problem with your sin. But the world can’t save you. The world has no interest in your eternal destiny. So, if the world gives your sin a free pass, that doesn’t mean God does! James 4:4 says “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” Secondly the Holy Spirit will convict you of the sin, reminding you of His Word. Let’s pray for America to “remember and turn to the Lord.”
#4. Lords Supper and Sunrise video:
Thirdly, some of our church members are wanting to take the Lords Supper in some way during this Easter season. We have produced a brief video that will be posted to our Church website Friday afternoon April 10th. We cleaned up the hill where we typically have our annual church sunrise services and made a video with a very short message from Exodus and Luke 24. In the video we will take you through the steps of the Lords supper, as we took it on the hill at sunrise. Our church members can use this video as a scriptural method to take communion in your home. You can follow my lead with the video at a time that works for you in your home on your schedule. Or if you want to use this video at sunrise Easter Sunday morning for a special sunrise service in your home, you can. We tried to get some of the property and church in the video too. We are not putting this video on Facebook, due to the sacred aspect of the Lords Supper but our church website only. Now the Lords supper is instituted for believers. Let me just give a disclaimer here. Should you decide to take the Lords Supper using the sunrise video as a guide, it’s your responsibility before God to take it in a worthy manner. We sure do miss seeing everyone, but my guess we will be as Buck Owens song says “together again” soon.0
Bro. Bruce Rudd