03/29/2024
*******Oakey Mtn Good Friday Service*******
A Good Friday to you all. This year I wanted to start a tradition of a Good Friday Service. If have never done that before and it is something that the Lord pressed me to do this year. I wanted to write a homily on each of the Seven Sayings of Christ and I have done so for our Service tonight at 7pm. I know that many of you are traveling, working and doing other things that prevent from being at the service tonight. I am going to post our service homilies for tonight for you to read whenever you can. the Bible tells us that if Jesus be lifted up He will draw all men to Himself. So please take a moment to read, pray and lift Him up, then men will be drawn to the life changing, life giving power of Jesus Christ. Love you all and see you tonight.......Pastor Brion
The Day Jesus Didn’t Have To Do
Pastor Brion K. Williams
Oakey Mountain Baptist Church
Good Friday, March 29, 2024
Today is what is called Good Friday in the Christian faith. All throughout my life I had a problem with and did not grip the name. I always thought that the day Christ died was not good. An innocent man dying for what I had done. I can look back throughout my life on all the loved ones I lost, and it was not good. Losing someone hurts. For Christians, Good Friday is a crucial day of the year because it celebrates what we believe to be the most pivotal day in the history of the world. On Good Friday, Jesus willingly suffered and died by crucifixion as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins (1 John 1:10). the forces of evil had been defeated, death had been destroyed, and from that point on, we all have a way to be free of sin and death. Now that’s good for us. But as we look at everything Jesus did for us, we can also say He did not have to. I have heard many people say, “I can’t do today”. What if Jesus had decided in the Garden of Gethsemane that He was not going to go through with it all. As we look at the 7 sayings of Christ on the Cross, let’s look at it from the view that if Jesus decided to stop.
1) “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” Luke 23:34
A. While the soldiers were preparing Him for crucifixion, He cried out to His Father to forgive mankind for crucifying Him. While dying, He was interceding for those who killed Him. Those who spit at Him, plucked His beard, beat, berated, humiliated and the list goes on. But what if He had said no. God’s wrath would have been upon man and not His love.
2) “Woman, behold thy son… behold thy mother” John 19: 26, 27
A. During His suffering, He called out to His friend for him to take care of His Mother. My question is, “Where was His family”. Where were His brothers and sisters? You hope that in the troubled times that your family would be there to help you in your need. Our problem today is that you can’t depend on family. Not in every case, but family would rather see a bad thing happen to you instead of a good thing. But Jesus said that there is a friend that will stick closer to you than a brother. I believe that Jesus was telling us the importance of family and honoring your Father and Mother. During this terrible day, He was honoring His mom by seeing that she was taken care of. If Jesus had done that we would have turned into a world of survival of the fittest. A dog-eat-dog world with no consideration for family. In the Garden of Eden God created family and He said it was good. Satan has been trying to destroy it ever since.
3) “Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise” Luke 23:43
A. We know that while Jesus was dying on the Cross, He was surrounded by two thieves. One of the thieves railed upon Jesus and one stood up for Him. On the Cross he called upon Jesus, Jesus knew he was asking forgiveness in a way of repentance. And through His love, mercy and grace assured a dying man that he would soon arrive in Paradise with Him. One thief died in his sin and the other died to his sin. One was bound for Hell and the other found eternal life in Jesus. Jesus is showing us that it is never too late to be saved. As long as you have breath in your body God has made a way for salvation. Now that is love, mercy and grace in action! There is always hope. If Jesus had decided to not do the day, hope would have been diminished and none of us would have had a chance. The Bible and the doctrine of salvation would have never come true.
4) “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me” Matthew 27:46
A. The sin of the world was now placed upon Christ. Jesus had become “sin for us.” The Father was of too pure eyes to behold sin. He, and all of Heaven, had to look away. This cry from Christ from the cross exemplifies every lost man’s cry as he goes out into a Christless eternity. Those in Hell will be forsaken by God. That is what will make Hell Hell. Note that Christ could not call upon God as “Father,” in the text. The lost man has no relationship to God. Christ had indeed become sin for us! But Jesus did not have to go through the separation from His Father. Jesus had always been with His Father and now for the first time ever He had to endure what it was like to know what separation was all about. He did not have to, but He did.
5) “I thirst”
A. Here Jesus shows His humanity. God was thirsty. The first thing that the rich man in hell cried for was a drop of water to cool his tongue. Christ hung on that Christ. In the suffering of his humanity, he cried “I thirst. “There is a song that has been written that highlights the truth of this saying. The chorus of the song goes, “He said I thirst, yet he made the rivers, He said I thirst, yet he made the seas, I thirst, cried the king of all ages. In his great thirst, he brought waters to me. Not only did Christ cry, “I thirst,” because he was thirsty. The context of the verse implies that he said the words because he wanted to be sure to fulfill the scriptures! It had been written that he would be given gall and vinegar to drink. Jesus was in total control. He knew the purpose his death. By fulfilling all of the scriptures about him, above his desire for water, Christ had a desire to please his Father. But He didn’t have to.
6) “It is finished”. John 19:28
A. Christ had now fulfilled all that he came to this earth to do. His mission to world was complete. Mankind now had a Savior. Jesus had removed the curse of law by taking the penalty of the curse for us on the cross. “It is finished,” could also be rendered, “Devil, you are finished!” It is true that Satan had bruised the heel of Christ, but by means of the cross, Christ had stepped on the head the snake! “It is finished,” could also be rendered, “Paid in full.” Jesus stood at the courts of heaven and declared that mankind’s atonement price of redemption was now paid in full. “It is finished,” could also be rendered, “End of the Old, and the beginning of the New.” The chapter of sin and death was now over. It was now time for resurrection and life! “It is finished,” could be rendered, “Our salvation is complete.” We are a full gospel, Church! The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Our salvation is complete in Christ. We do not preach a half gospel. How sad it is to think that there are those who preach that mankind must do something more to add to what Christ has already completed for us at the Cross! “It is finished,” could also be rendered, “Goodbye to this world, and hello to Heaven! But He did not have to. If it had not been finished with Christ, we would be wandering through eternity with nowhere to go. Death would not be swallowed up in victory and the redemptive work of Jesus would not have been done. The Scriptures and the prophecies of the Bible would not have been fulfilled and we would be without hope.
7) “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” Luke 23:46
A. One of two prayers will be prayed by everyone as they enter the door of death. Either a person will be crying out “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.” Or a person will have the promise of this blessed prayer, “Father, into thy hands I will commend my spirit.” Christ had fulfilled the law. He had just cried loudly, “It is finished.” Now Christ was once again reunited with his Father. He could pray “Father into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Note that Christ had nothing left to give. His body and his blood had been completely demised. The only thing that Christ had left to give his Father was his spirit. The older we get in this life, the less body I have to give to the Lord, but God still can have our spirit! Note that following this saying, Christ bowed his head as he died. The Greek word for the bowing indicates that this was done in full control of Christ. It was not a head simply hanging limply to the side. Christ bowed his head in reverence and in worship to his Father, even unto death. How did the Father respond? In that very moment, the Father took the spirit of Christ into paradise. The dying thief had already announced the coming arrival. Three days later, the spirit of Christ, in a resurrected body, would walk out of the tomb! But He didn’t have to. At any time, He could have called Legions of Angels and turned on mankind. But then John 3:16 would go unfulfilled. His love for us could have been turned to wrath and the souls of man could have been stricken from the Universe. Jesus did not have to do what He did for us all.
Conclusion: So, on this Friday let us all join together in gratitude and thankfulness for the love that God had, has and will have for us all. He chose to make man out of the dust of the Earth and create a friend that He could and can fellowship with for all eternity. He wants something that He can’t create: someone who chooses to love Him. God chose His Son to die for us, Jesus chose the cross for us, but He didn’t have to. I pray we choose to love Him and be forever thankful and grateful for Jesus doing all He didn’t have to. Love you all……. Pastor Brion
