Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20030323.htm
JESUS CHRIST IN OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY Part XXXI: Dealing Well With Crises Outside Of Our Human Control (Zechariah 12:10 with John 19:34-37 and Luke 23:46)
Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

In times like these, we face circumstances that can deeply affect our welfare, but which are at times outside of our human control:

(1) When this message was first drafted on Tuesday, March 17th, the President of the United States had announced a 48-hour ultimatum to Saddam Hussein and his sons to step down from power. If they refused, coalition forces including the United States would invade Iraq. The welfare of the troops, the people of Iraq and even the relationships of many nations particularly with the United States was set on an uncertain course over which we individual Americans had little if any control.

(2) Also, the news reported the status of vigilance for terrorism in America was being heightened along with this announcement of the deadline for Saddam Hussein. Potential targets like our nation's bridges, fuel depots and nuclear power plants were put under guard by the American military's national guard and other home defense forces.

(3) The Investor's Business Daily paper on Monday, March 17th reported on the uncertainty of the economic future for the world.

(4) On Wednesday, I watched middle school aged Armando Escobar be interviewed on ABC's morning show. He was there with his two younger sisters and his mother and father, and both parents were dressed in U. S. military fatigues! Armando was asked how he would handle the challenge of helping his sisters cope were both his Mom and Dad called to serve their country overseas! This young man faced great stress caused by factors far beyond his control!

(5) Then, when this message was being composed, my family was awaiting a new compressor to be shipped so our refrigerator could work once again. We were storing our perishables in picnic coolers on the kitchen floor! All we could do was wait for the compressor to arrive, and live out of the picnic coolers with their store-bought ice!



When our WELFARE is at stake, and HUMANLY there is little if ANYTHING we can DO to CONTROL the situation at hand, HOW do we HANDLE life CONSTRUCTIVELY as God sees it? How do we DEAL with our sense of VULNERABILITY?



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "Whether it's the Iraq crisis, the threat of terrorism in America or any number of situations, I or a friend feels troubled about things or parties outside of his human control that can harm his welfare. What should we do to handle this concern WELL?"

1. The RISEN Jesus told His disciples on the road to Emmaus how He fulfilled Old Testament Messianic prophecies, Luke 24:25-27.
2. As these men were edified by Christ's teaching of those passages (Luke 24:32), we also view them, following the list of prophecies named in the Ryrie Study Bible, KJV , s. v. "Messianic Prophecies."
3. The Zechariah 12:10 prophecy of Christ's side being pierced and viewed in light of its fulfillment in John 19:34-37 with Luke 23:46 EXAMPLE for US how to deal well with crises outside our control:
1. We know from 1 Peter 2:21-23 Jesus set us an example in His suffering and death that His disciples were to follow in facing crises.
2. Well, a crisis Jesus faced in His suffering that was outside of His human control regarded a prophecy of His being pierced as follows:
1. Zechariah 12:10 foretold Messiah would be pierced, that those who pierced Him would examine Him after they had done this deed.
2. Yet, before His death, only Christ's hands and feet were pierced, a common event not evoking the soldiers' special gaze, Psalm 22:16.
3. Thus, when Jesus died, He had not yet been pierced in His side with the resulting special gaze of the soldiers, meaning such a piercing event was to be fulfilled after His death when He had no human CONTROL to be sure the event happened, Luke 23:46!
3. Nevertheless, the piercing event occurred after His death in fulfillment of the prophecies of Scripture, John 19:34-37:
1. Jesus died relatively soon after being crucified as was evidenced by Pilate's surprise at Jesus' quick demise in Mark 15:43-44.
2. Thus, when the soldiers began to break the bones of the crucified to hasten their death so their bodies would not stay on the cross on the Sabbath, they saw Jesus was already dead, John 19:31-33a.
3. Since there was no need to break His legs, one of the soldiers instead pierced Christ's side to verify He was dead, Jn. 19:33b-34a.
4. When blood and water separately exited this wound, confirming He was dead, the prophecy about Jesus' side being pierced and that He was noted by the piercers came to pass, Jn. 19:34: Zech. 12:10.
5. Additionally, since Jesus' shin bones were not broken, still other Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled as follows:
1. First, Psalm 34:20 predicted God would not let the bones of the righteous be broken; since Jesus was righteous, the Father would not let the soldiers break His bones even after His death!
2. Second, Exodus 12:46 forbade the Hebrews from breaking a single bone of the Passover lamb; as this lamb typified Jesus as God's Passover Lamb slain for us (1 Cor. 5:7b), God would not let a bone of Jesus be broken in His even though He was dead!
4. Well, the KEY to Jesus' handling these postmortem prophetic issues outside of His human control is seen in 1 Peter 2:23 with Luke 23:46:
1. Though He had not yet been pierced and specially examined by those who had pierced Him, and though His body was still exposed to the Roman soldiers on the cross, Jesus entrusted His human spirit to God the Father, and thereupon died, Luke 23:46.
2. Also, Jesus entrusted to the Father the injustices done to Him in His suffering leading to His death, 1 Peter 2:23.
3. On the other hand, Jesus performed His assignment of laying down His life supernaturally in accord with the Father's will:
1. In John 10:18, Jesus revealed the Father had commanded Him to lay down His human life and take it again in the resurrection.
2. Thus, Jesus focused on obeying that assignment, miraculously dying, Luke 23:46. So unusual was this death that the Roman centurion claimed Jesus was a righteous man, Luke 23:47.
3. In so doing, Jesus entrusted what happened to His body outside of His assignment to die so that after He died, the Father would see that His side was pierced, that He was examined and that His bones would not be broken in accord with prophecy!

Application: If facing threatening matters beyond our HUMAN control to handle, like JESUS, (1) we should focus on what God DIRECTS us to DO: (a) that includes obeying God in believing in Jesus as our Savior from sin (cf. Acts 17:30; Rom. 1:5; John 3:16). (b) Then, we must heed His Word for us like Jesus did, cf. 1 John 2:3-6. (2) We next follow Christ's example in entrusting to God (a) what is outside of that divine assignment for us, and (b) entrust to God what we can NOT control re: even our own welfare. (3) HE then fulfills HIS will for us, Ps. 138:8. We can then say: "The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me" (NIV, ESV)!

Lesson: As our EXAMPLE in handling concerns beyond our control, Jesus (1) focused on HEEDING the Father's will, (2) entrusting to God (a) what was BEYOND this task and (b) His HUMAN control after death!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

When I finished typing up these sermon notes, as I always do, I tried to "save" them onto a file so they could be printed for our bulletin and sent via the Internet to our web master and put onto our web site.

However, due to recent changes with the computer, I could not discern how to save the sermon notes as usual.

Louis, our web master, had told me I might face such problems, and that I was to telephone him if I needed help with anything.

So, I called him, explaining the situation.

At first, things seemed rather ominous! Louis didn't immediately know how to fix the problem, meaning I was possibly going to lose my sermon notes altogether!

Suddenly, he said, "Oh, I know, I know," and then he directed me to start an extensive, mind-boggling (to me!) series of steps with the computer mouse that I still don't really understand!

In the process, as Louis was talking me through the various steps, and we became deeply embedded in the visceral parts of the program, I found myself having to apply this sermon: there I was, completely out of my realm of understanding, clicking the mouse on boxes I had never known existed in the computer and wondering if I might never see my sermon notes again!

However, by following the assigned moves that Louis dictated to me, the computer's function eventually changed so I could save the sermon notes using steps I understood! Yet, to do so, I had to trust that God had brought Louis along to be our web site ministry specialist, and thus had to follow his every directive in faith that I was doing God's will with every click of the computer mouse, and leave the outcome of the whole effort with the Lord! It was an exercise of faith in terms of the computer mouse!



When the welfare of matters that are important to us are at stake, and circumstances take our welfare out of our human control, INSTEAD of coming unraveled in mind and heart, GOD expects us to FOCUS on the ASSIGNMENTS that we KNOW He has given to us, and let HIM handle what we can NOT control. Then HE fulfills what HE wants to accomplish in our lives!

May we do this to enjoy God's blessing in our uncertain, humanly uncontrollable events in life!