Loyal, OK

Palm Sunday 2008

 
Pastor Leon Seaton

To Be Like Jesus--Obedient and Courageous

Matthew 21:1-11

The WORD OF GOD should be like a road map to us… like the checklist the pilot uses before he flies his plane into the air. Without a map or compass we can get very lost when driving in unfamiliar territory.

I really enjoy our GPS unit – our navigation guide, if you please. However it is still a little confusing if you have not looked at a map. The map gives you the big picture.

In 1984 Roberta and I, along with another couple, decided to take a Fall Foliage Tour to the Talihina/Talimina drive in Southeast Oklahoma. Although things did not work out as planned, we have always been glad that we took the trip, because our friend Duane died suddenly of a heart attack that following summer.

What problems did we experience? First the fog was so thick that we could barely see the road… forget about the trees!

Secondly, Ft. Smith, AR is not on Interstate 40 like we thought, and not having a map, we missed that part of our planned trip as well! (No GPS back then!)

I tell that story because there are a lot of Christians in that same boat! They wander around in a fog, and can’t find a big town because they have not consulted their map.

Your Bible is the best guide for daily living you will ever find. Jesus used the Word of God to guide Him. If it worked for Jesus it will work for us. The only scripture He had was the Old Testament, commonly called the Septuagint or the Hebrew scriptures at that time.

John 19:38 we read, “Knowing that all was now completed…and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled…” Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”

The psalmist wrote, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” He also wrote, “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against God.” It that your testimony today? I hope so!

Jesus used the scriptures throughout His life. At age 12 He asked His parents, “Do you not realize that I must be about My Father’s business?” Yet He obeyed His parents – again because that is one of the Old Testament 10 commandments.

Our topic this morning is “To Be like Jesus – Obedient and Courageous.” I believe that most of us know to do better than we do, but we lack the courage. It is a wonderful experience to experience God’s presence in our prayer and study life; it is another thing to start walking in obedience even though we feel like we are going out on a limb because we are walking in new territory.

Philippians 2:8 Obedience and Courage!   And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:1-11 is a very powerful teaching. Note that it says something about attitude! Jesus is the Son of God, very God Himself. Yet He set all of that aside so He could become one with us.

In John 17:20-23 Jesus prays, My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as We are One: I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.

1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

Romans 1:5 Through Him and for His name's sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.

Romans 6:16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

2 John 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love.

We began this message with Jesus’ statement, “I thirst.” His statements before this, as He hung on the cross, were, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

Then He promised the repentant thief, "Today you will be with Me in Paradise."

He committed the care of His mother, Mary, to His closest friend John.

Then there was the powerful cry from the cross "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"

Now we hear the words, "I thirst."

Yes, the statement was prophesied, but we should not overlook the suffering that came from Christ’s obedience.  Jesus had been beaten and whipped thirty-nine times by the Roman soldiers.  He had to carry an immense wooden beam up a long, winding road to a hill outside the city of Jerusalem. They did not stop for coffee breaks. It was a tough, grueling experience.   He'd probably had no water since 6:00 in the morning.  He was placed on the cross around 9:00, and it was now around 3:00 in the afternoon. No water, a grueling trek, a hot desert climate, He had to be thirsty!