These are some of my old favorites right here.
Are you ready to leave this world? I don't even
know if some of you would go this morning if
the Lord showed up. You'd say, can we go tomorrow?
Have you got Luke? Let me get this off of me
and we'll go eat barbecue. Amen. Y 'all pray
for your pastor. He needs prayer this morning.
The rain sets lethargy on humanity. It's called
the dropsies. And you got a bad case of it this
morning. Okay. I'm going to try to get to number
12. Y 'all believe me? Let's go. Luke 18, verse
31. Then he took unto him the 12, and he said
unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and
all things that are written by the prophets concerning
the Son of Man shall be accomplished. For he
shall be delivered unto the Gentiles and shall
be mocked and spitefully entreated and spitted
on. And they shall scourge him and put him to
death. And the third day he shall rise again.
And they understood none of these things. And
this saying was hid from them. Neither knew they
the things which were spoken. Just a simple thought
this morning. The countdown begins. The countdown
begins. Father, I love you. Now, thank you, Lord.
I need your help. Lord, only you know how much
of your help I need this morning. So move and
touch today, Father God. Use us. Lord, help me
stay out of the way. Help my flesh remain at
bay. And you be glorified today. And the body
be edified this morning. For you are great and
greatly to be praised. In Jesus' name, the church
says, amen. Tell your neighbor the countdown
has begun. The terms... Used in the church world
and Christianity to describe and illustrate the
life of Christians. We saw last week those terms
are ministry and mission. These two help us define
what I see ultimately is going to be the purpose
of Christ. The phrase we used was to reach up
as we extend our limits in worship. We reach
inwardly as we extend our limits in service.
We reach outwardly as we extend our limits in
witness. We put ourselves out. We stretch. We
go beyond the current barriers that we have placed
upon ourselves. We remove barriers that the enemy
places before us in order to serve, worship,
and to witness. And for the body of Christ, that
falls to us. These are not necessarily spirit
-inspired, but they are self -disciplined. We
should not have to be spiritually inspired by
the Holy Ghost to worship a God who has redeemed
our soul. It should be automatic in our life.
Amen? It should be automatic. We should not have
to feel the goose bump of the Spirit, those cold
chills to rise up in order for us to lift our
voices and to put our hands together. But we
should extend our limits in worship as we reach
up and we stretch to reach higher heights and
deeper depths in God's grace and God's glory.
Same goes with our service. We should not have
to be spirit -inspired to serve others, but we
should be self -motivated to see and to identify
and to witness needs that are around us. And
in the scope and the parameter of our capabilities,
we serve others. We shouldn't have to be spirit
-inspired to serve because we have been redeemed
by love divine. Service should be automatic.
It should be... Just a correspondence of our
everyday life. We should serve one another and
serve others. So we go beyond the limits that
we put upon ourselves and put ourselves, sometimes
you have to put yourself into a vulnerable place
in order to serve. Because everyone's not always
grateful for your service. But we must put ourselves
out there. We should not have to be spirit inspired.
As much as spirit empowered to witness. Help
is starting to show up now. We are spirit empowered,
not necessarily spirit inspired. But we have
been empowered according to Acts 1 and 8. Jesus
said, and after that the Holy Ghost has come
upon you. You shall, not probably, not maybe,
but after the spirit comes on you, you shall
be witnesses of me. And then we take that four
-part regional witness and we take it from next
door to around the world and around the globe.
And that's what we're doing. Jerusalem, Judea,
Samaria, and the uttermost parts. It's Cleveland,
Bradley County, Tennessee, the United States
of America, and then globally. We take it around
the world. But until we begin next door, we'll
never go around the world. So we don't have to
be spirit -inspired. as much as we need be Spirit
-empowered. Because if we are Spirit -empowered,
then witness is what automatically comes from
our life. We are automatically going to witness.
If you love the Lord enough, you won't be around
anyone long until you're telling how good God
really is. Amen? You can't get around a stranger
long without something beginning to bubble up.
Why? Because you're Spirit -empowered, not inspired.
You're empowered. You're empowered because the
Holy Spirit Holy Ghost has set it upon you. And
when he sets it upon you, you are empowered to
declare the good news of Jesus Christ. And it
empowers you to go the next step and to serve
others. It empowers you to want to worship in
greater levels, in greater detail, to know who
God is. So our text this morning marks the beginning
of what some would call the end. This is the
last three, four weeks of Christ's life here
on earth. It begins to share, and I believe it
actually just... just brings to a nice, sweet
conclusion of the entire three and a half years
of his ministry. It all comes down in this last
month of his life. And as it marks what I said,
as some would call the end, because of what he
declares, it is finished. And some say, well,
it was over and that was the end. No, I declare
this to you today, that this only marks the end
of the beginning. Hallelujah. It marks the end
of the beginning of eternity. It marks the end
of the purpose of Christ's coming to begin with.
It marks the end and gives a declaration of who
Jesus Christ ultimately is. When we begin to
think about the earthly life of Christ, it is
the expression of the love of the heavenly Father
and what he has and what he desires toward all
of his creation, but especially humanity. Why?
Because we are made in his likeness. We are created
in his image. Hallelujah. The reason that Christ
has come is that that be the fulfillment of his
destiny for you and I. That Christ come and that
humanity be redeemed. You must remember that
in the garden God created us that we would live
forever. You understand that's the reason it's
so tough for the body to die because it wasn't
created to die. It was created to live. The curse
of sin brings death. Oh, but the gift of God
is eternal life. We were created. to live. Hallelujah.
And how many times have you heard one say, well,
I don't know why they're hanging on, but they
take a breath and the heart continues to beat.
Why? Because the original design of the body
was to live and to not die. It was sin, the curse
of sin that brought death upon humanity. It was
no wonder that Methuselah lived to be over 900
and something years old. It took a long time
for sin's diseases to begin to run rampant and
life was a whole lot longer then. even in death.
Think about that. They lived for centuries in
the age of humanity. Why? Because a body was
created to live, and the love of the Father is
expressed in the giving of his Son, Jesus Christ,
through his death and through his life and through
him living again. Hallelujah. It brings hope
for humanity. It brings help for humanity and
for our current life crisis, and it gives us
a great expectation for eternity. Hallelujah.
I've got a great expectation toward eternity.
I don't know how you look. I don't know how you
think about it. But my mind is starting to look
toward heaven more and more and more and more
every day. I want to see him. I want to look
upon his face. I want to be there to sing forever
of his wonderful, amazing grace. I'm longing
for heaven and the hope that I have in eternity.
I know of his good grace on earth, but the hope
that I have. For eternity. And the father sent
his son. The direct expression of his love for
us. That we may know. In free pardon of sin.
Relationship with our heavenly father. And when
we think about these things. It causes my heart
to go. Understand that no other life and no other
death has impacted humanity in a greater level
than that of Jesus Christ. You do understand
that time is separated by his living and dying?
But can I tell you that time will be culminated
one more time with his return. Hallelujah, hallelujah,
hallelujah. And we'll get to know him in his
eternal being of who he is. We'll get to behold
him in his eternal glory as divine God. Hallelujah.
We'll get to see him and acknowledge him and
realize him. And as this countdown begins. The
humbleness of his beginning. John would put it
this way. In the beginning was the Word. The
Word was God. The Word was with God. The same
was in the beginning with God. And all these
things were made by him. and without him was
not anything made that was made. In him was life,
and the life was the light of men, and the light
shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended
it not. In verse 14, and the word became flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. Paul, the apostle born
out of time in another season, declares to the
church at Colossae, chapter 1 and verse 16, for
by him were all things created that are in heaven
and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions, principalities,
powers, all things were created by him and for
him, and he is before all things, and by him
all things consist. The countdown begins. The
countdown for eternity and eternity's hope for
humanity has begun. Four weeks out of Calvary's
sight. Four weeks away. We understand as Jesus
prayed in John 17, 24, Father, I will that they
also whom thou hast given me be with me where
I am, that they may behold my glory which thou
hast given me. For thou lovest me before the
foundation. Of the world. The countdown begun
before time began. So how can it be the end when
we're simply in the middle? How could it be the
end, his crucifixion be the end of all when it's
yet but the time that it breaks? Hallelujah.
It breaks from glory to earth, the short hyphen
of 33 1⁄2 years to build and span the gap between
eternity's existence from before the world began
to after the earth is again renewed and remade
and consumed with fire and a heavenly throne
set up and a city come down. Hallelujah. And
God again sits upon the throne of the earth.
It's just simply 33 and a half years of the hyphen
of time in the span of eternity when the Son
of God, the incarnate one, who walked upon the
face of his creation. Walked upon the face of
his creation. It's merely the hyphen of eternity's
time span. Well. The church at Galatia, Paul
wrote, when the fullness of time was come, God
sent forth his son, made of a woman, under the
law to redeem them that were under the law that
we might receive the adoption of sons. Such an
humble beginning. Bethlehem's declaration, the
angel would declare. Fear not for behold I bring
you good tidings of great joy which shall be
to all people for unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Savior which is Christ the
Lord. Humble beginning. Luke 2, 41 and 52. The
only enlightenment of Christ's childhood. We
see that wonderful encounter after they have
come to the city for sacrifice and worship. And
Mary and Joseph are leaving and Jesus is not
with them. And they are gone and they come back
three days later. Hallelujah. And they find him
teaching in the temple. We don't have time to
get on three days, do we? We're going to get
on that here in two weeks. We'll talk about some
three days. Amen. But it was there they found
him teaching in the temple. We see the inside
that he knew that he must be about his heavenly
father's business. Amen. Mama, you know I've
got to get about the business. At 12 years old.
Hallelujah. You've got to remember at 12 earth
years he was still millennia old. Hallelujah.
Amen. Eons of time. He had already been before.
Abraham was. Jesus was. Amen. Are you hearing
me? from the foundation before even all things
existed. Christ was, and yet now in the span
of his incarnation and his fleshly walk upon
the face of this earth, he knew he must be about
the Father's business. Can I tell you, he came
on a mission, and his mission was to fulfill
his ministry, and his mission and his ministry
was his purpose. My God, he was born to die,
but yet to live. He was born to die, but yet
to live. His ministry, his mission was all about
his purpose. His mission and ministry statements
found in Luke's gospel in the fourth chapter.
I mentioned it to you last week. The Spirit of
the Lord is upon me. He's anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor. Right? And then how all
that transpires on through the poor, the sick,
the halt, the lame, the brokenhearted, the bruised,
the imprisoned. That's his mission. Amen. And
his purpose, his purpose was found. His purpose
is found in that he came not to heal the well,
but the sick. His purpose is found in this statement.
It said that the sick are those who are in need
of a position, not the well. He said, I've come
to seek and to save that which is lost, for the
righteous has no need of repentance. And I've
come to declare myself to the lost and undone,
for they need repentance. My purpose is to fulfill
in our text today. That's what he told his disciples
as he pulled them aside again. He said, listen,
it's time now. We're just a few weeks away. The
final countdown has begun. The countdown of my
earthly life that will escort us into the hope
of eternity. This is coming to an end. And I'm
telling you what's going to happen. They're going
to take me. They're going to spit on me. They're
going to abuse me. They're going to rail on me.
And then they're going to kill me. But it's okay,
brethren. I'm going to rise again. Hallelujah.
Oh, don't you just love it how he gave them hope?
It's not the first time he declared. that to
them. If you remember the day they were strolling
by the temple and he stopped and he looked at
the great temple in Jerusalem. He said, hey,
they're going to tear this down, but in three
days I'm going to build it right back up again.
Why? Because he's telling them something that
they couldn't get a hold of. He is the all circumference
of what the temple was meant to be. It was in
him. Hallelujah. He said, they're going to tear
it down. But in three days, I'm going to put
her back together again. As Jonah was in the
belly of the whale, three days and three nights.
So must the Son of Man be in the heart of the
earth. They didn't get it then. They're not getting
it now. They had no clue. The reality. that they
were walking the earth with the Son of God. They
couldn't really grasp a hold of it until after
that third day. Hallelujah. Actually, they were
still, well, I'm getting ahead of myself. Two
weeks, we'll get to three days. Trying to lay
a little groundwork. I get excited. You'll have
to pardon me when I get to talking about Jesus.
I don't know about you, but I actually know what
he's done for me. I have no clue what he redeemed
you from, but I know what he redeemed me out
of. I know what he washed out of my life. I know
the sin that he cleansed me from, and I get excited.
And when I begin to declare that the countdown
has begun because, see, my mind's going, I'm
so far past Calvary, it ain't even funny. We
just have to stop and pause at Calvary for a
little bit here in a couple weeks. We'll have
to make a pause at Calvary. Lord, it's not a
cross that I worship. Hallelujah. Oh, come on
now. I'm going to get on a little pet peeve.
Everybody wants a cross, but if you look, it's
empty. And if you've got one with a crucifix
and Jesus still on it, then you need to get you
another one because the cross is empty. And if
you wear around a tomb with a stone rolled away
from it, you might as well get something else
because he's not there either. He's risen from
the grave. Hallelujah. And the best glimpse I
get of a throne is what? Oh, Ezekiel sees his
calling when he begins to see a will inside of
a will. My Lord, and the color and the splendor
and the glory of the throne of God that moves
at the very whim of his thought process. Ezekiel
sees the glory. My God, there's no way to put
that in a pendant. There's no way to hang it
on a chain. I love Jesus. How about you? I love
him. The earthly countdown began. The last month
of his life began with a clear declaration to
his disciples. It's time for us to go to Jerusalem
now. And here's what's going to happen when we
get there. As the scripture declares, in the
fullness of time, God sent his son to be born
of a woman. It's also foretold of Calvary's conclusion.
Isaiah 53 paints the picture of the suffering
servant. But Isaiah 61 declares the mission,
ministry, and the purpose. Isaiah says he's going
to be beaten beyond recognition. Isaiah would
declare that he will bear in himself the iniquities
of the sin of humanity. He would be bruised.
He will be beaten. He will be punished for the
sins of humanity. And Christ declares, I've come
for them folk. Not the well, the sick. Not the
righteous, but the sinner. The sinner. Not those
outside of relationship with our Father. Not
within, but those without. Not those who are
serving to the fullest of their ability, living
out the law of Moses. If they're doing that and
they're under the blood covering, that was all
they were required to do. Hello? To live out
the law of Moses and to remain under the blood
covering year after year. To offer said sacrifice
that was required for said condition. Go read
the Levitical. The Levitical law, read the book
of Leviticus, read Numbers and others, and you'll
see the ramifications for sin's action. But Jesus
said, I've come. Not to abolish, but to fulfill
all of that. His declaration, I am the grain
offering. Right? I am the fat offering. Right?
I am the drink. I pour myself out. My blood will
be poured out for you. I am all of the totality
of the law. That is me. I am the Passover lamb.
As well as I am the scapegoat. Hey! Escape goat
sins were transferred onto the head of the goat
and he was driven out of the city, driven out
into the wayfarer and driven off a cliff. He
became that for you and I. Thus the reason John
the Baptist would declare in Jordan's chilly
waters. Behold the Lamb of God which takes away
the sins of the world. These last closing moments
in our text between now, Luke 18 and the close.
Until we see his blessing of Bethany and they
go out and they go back to Jerusalem and make
their way to the upper room. In the meantime,
Bartimaeus is healed. So we see his mission,
his ministry, and his purpose all in these last
few closing weeks. He displays his power over
the physical. He heals a blind man. Amen? He
displays his authority over that which cannot
be seen because as he heals Bartimaeus and he's
making his way. Down the road there's a man by
the name of Zacchaeus, chief among the publicans
and the tax collectors and a very wealthy man.
Heard Jesus was coming but was short of stature
and that he might see him climbed up in a sycamore
tree. For the Lord he wanted to see. We see the
fulfillment. Of his purpose as he stops beneath
the limb that Zacchaeus is on. And he says, Zacchaeus,
come down from there, son. I'm going to your
house today. Lord, do you know who I am? He knew
from eternity's beginning that he would be stopping
beneath a sycamore tree during the final countdown.
And he would call a sinner down. He said, I'm
going to your house. Why? Because salvation is
coming home with you today. We see his purpose
in these closing countdown moments. He gives
the parable of the ten pounds. Talks about how
much we are aware. Of how zealous he is for everyone.
The man given the one pound that hid it in a
napkin. Because he knew how strict the master
was. Instead of taking it and making a deposit
and earning interest. He just simply hid it.
To which the master said. Well if you know how
strict. I am, then you of all knew better than
to just hold it. Take it from him and give it
to the one who had the ten. There's the triumphal
entry that we'll celebrate next week on Palm
Sunday. All of these things coming in the final
countdown moments. Being in fulfillment. The
words of the prophets. That's what Jesus told
them. He said, all the words of the prophets
are about to be tied up with a bow. I'm going
to ride in, as Zacharias said. I will have the
colt on which no man had ever sat. The countdown.
Has begun. We're beginning to make our way toward.
The saddest but yet most joy filled day. For
humanity. There's no sadder day than the day
of Christ's death. But yet no day filled with
more joy. Than the day he died. He despised the
shame of a Roman cross. But for the joy that
was set before him, he endured it. Why? So that
you and I on a rainy Sunday in April in 2025
could one more time rehearse the final countdown.
So that we understand. His mission statement
and ministry statement of Luke 4, 18. To fully
get a grasp on Luke 5 and his purpose statement
as he come to heal the sick and to save the lost.
All these things in the final countdown. The
fullness of his ministry. Brought into the clothes
of his earthly life. His ministry, his mission
and purpose all lived out right to the very end.
We see ministry on the cross. As he looks at
a mother. And tells the disciple, take care of
my mama, son. That's the water's parallel. Take
care of my mama. Ministry. Compassion. Father,
forgive them. They have no clue what they're
really doing. Right? As he hangs his head. Stand
with me this morning. Terry, you have our closing
prayer today. Just begin to make your way on.
Come on up there. I don't know how this morning
to close. But Terry's going to lead us out with
our corporate prayer. And there'll be a copy
of it in the foyer for you to take home and pray
this week. Other than to know this today. His
ministry, his mission, and his purpose is you
and I. All of it. You and I. Your being here.
My being here. Was why he went to Calvary. Was
why he came. And bore in a body. So that you
and I may be redeemed. You. Me. And all the crazy
stuff that we've done. Right? All the stupid
things that I've committed. He didn't just have
pity on me. He had compassion for me. And when
I knelt and finally got it right, look. I love
to tell you I got it right the first time. As
you probably surmise, I didn't. I didn't get
it right the second time. I didn't get it right
the third time. I worked around that number of
perfection, like seven. Probably actually the
number of new beginnings, eight, before I actually
got it. I've been baptized seven times. I take
literally the word of God when he says, do your
first works over. If you fail from your first
love and you come back, do them first works over.
I took that literally. Because in my heart of
hearts, I knew if I'd have died in the condition
that I was in, hell would have been my eternal
abode. Didn't nobody have to try to tell me that?
I knew. So I kept on, kept on, and he didn't
give up on me. He knew a whole lot more than
I did. Think about that. He saw in the expanse
of time us here. He's a good God. So in that,
he knows everything that has transpired up to
this moment and all that will. He's sovereign.
He's omniscient. omnipresent, omnipotent, all
-seeing, knowing, and being all -powerful. If
you have a special need this morning, just lift
your hand up today. It doesn't matter if it's
physical, financial, spiritual, emotional. Doesn't
matter if it's family. Doesn't matter if it's
a neighbor. Doesn't matter what it is. God knows.
He knows. Father, Over this room filled with
humanity this morning. It is my prayer. I pray.
For each hand lifted, you know what they need.
And your purpose was to come to fulfill that
need. For the sick, you come to heal. We see
this in the final countdown. You heal the blind
man. You save a sinner. You fulfill Scripture.
We'll continue the countdown next week as to
see your life unfold and how powerful it is for
us. Father, I thank you for hearing our prayer.
And over every person in this room, heal, deliver,
provide, set liberty, speak peace beyond their
understanding. We will praise you for it. Now
hear this prayer. I don't need to tell you another
great sermon. The countdown begins. The focus
of my prayer is holiness. Let us pray. Precious
Heavenly Father, we bow humbly in your presence,
giving you praise and honor and all glory. for
bringing us out of darkness and into your marvelous
light. We acknowledge there is none like you,
and that not only are you omniscient, omnipotent,
omnipresent, but you are holy, altogether holy,
and that you are coming back for a holy church
without spot or blemish, that throughout your
holy word you have commanded us, your blood -bought
church, to be holy, Nothing could be more clear
to us in your word than be you holy for I am
holy. And again, without holiness, no man shall
see God. But now, oh God of heaven, we are troubled
even as you're called to be holy church. The
possibility that we might be grieving the Holy
Spirit and failing to live up as we should to
this high calling. Loving Lord, as your church,
we repent and humbly pray that you would forgive
us if in any way we have gravitated from this
command, compromised your convictions, and allowed
the spirit of this age to creep into our hearts.
Our sincere prayer and cry of our hearts this
morning is that you would search us as it were
and examine our hearts. and that the Holy Spirit
would reveal to us anything that might be lurking
in us that's not holy and that's displeasing
to our Lord. We pray that not only would you
reveal those things to us, but that you would
forgive us and deliver us and you would cleanse
us. Lord, we invite you to examine every facet
of our being, every area of our lives. That you
purify our minds that in all things we might
have the mind of Christ. Our wills that we'll
seek to do your will. In all of our endeavors,
our desires that it not be for the things of
this world. Or anything that would pull us away
from you. Our attitudes that they be godly and
good attitudes that glorify you. That you sanctify
our mouths. So that no corrupt communication
would come out of our mouth. but words that edify
and give grace to the hearer, that all bitterness
and wrath and anger and evil speaking would be
put away from us, and that unlike the world,
we would be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as you have forgiven us, that in
a high -tech world where filth, vulgarity, immorality
seeks to infiltrate our hearts, our homes, and
even our church, that we would guard what we
hear, shun the appearance of evil, and hold uncompromisingly
to your command to be holy, for I am holy. Wonderful,
precious, and holy God, we thank you for hearing
our cry and answering our prayer. And that you
not only command us to be holy, you have provided
a way to be holy, that we are sanctified and
made holy. by prayer, by the reading of your
word, by the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells
in us and enables us in an unholy world to live
a godly, sanctified, and a holy life. This we
pray. This prayer we pray in the name of your
Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.