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Our Lord’s High Priestly Prayer

This Sunday-morning expositional series by Pastor Rod Harris on the John 17 began on January 31, 2021. To listen to a sermon simply click on one of the titles below. The most recent message is cued up and ready to play at the top of the list; to begin listening to it, simply click the little grey triangle in the upper left hand corner of the playlist.

Celebrating the Lord’s Table: Lessons From the Table

This is an exposition of John 19:28-30. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, April 22, 2018.

Intro:

This evening we gather around the Lord’s Table. It is a time of reflection and celebration.

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This is one of 2 ordinances given to the church. We are told to observe this memorial meal as a proclamation of our Lord’s death until He returns. I just want to stop and reflect for a moment this evening on the events of that last week of our Lord’s earthly ministry. The week we refer to as Passion Week.

It was an amazing time. It began with a great parade and a cheering crowd. It ended with a violent mob shouting, “Crucify Him!” In between there were moments of tenderness, love and compassion mixed with bitterness and betrayal. Of course it is misleading to say it began on that Sunday – it actually began much earlier. It began in eternity past when the Father, Son and Holy Spirit agreed upon a plan. A plan that would redeem fallen humanity. A plan that would demand the slaughter of the innocent for the sake of the guilty.

The plan was put into motion some thirty years before when the Lord Jesus left the glory and splendor of heaven to become a man. God, the Eternal One, the Creator stepped into His creation. The Sovereign Lord who enjoyed the worship and adoration of heaven; the Sovereign One, to whom the whole of creation bowed in obedience, became flesh and bone. He who had enjoyed eternal worship was scorned. He who had known only love and acceptance was despised and rejected. Laughed at, mocked and ridiculed. Shamelessly nailed to a cross. Humiliated for all the world to see.

Yet that moment of shame became the time of triumph.

Text: John 19:28-30

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), I thirst. A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished, and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

I know, it doesn’t seem triumphant.
Until you know, the rest of the story…
Following three horrifying hours in darkness as the Father turned His back on His beloved Son, the parched lips of the bleeding, dying Jesus formed the words – “It is finished.”

Then, in a scene that defied the moment – he bowed his head and whispered a simple child’s prayer, “Father into thy hands I commit my spirit.” Silence. An eerie silence fell across the Golgatha.

The moans of the other victims pierced the silence. The muffled sounds of orders and the talk of the executioner broke the silence. But the words hung in the air “it is finished.” Finished? What was finished? In what possible way could this scene be interpreted as victorious?

To answer that question we have to back up – to the beginning.
“The soul that sins, it will die.”
That’s what the Father had said to our first parents.
Adam and Eve understood the penalty for rebellion.
But they rebelled.

Lesson #1 – sin brings death.

Fast-forward several generations - Egypt had been rocked with plague after plague. Stubborn Pharaoh refused to let go of God’s people.

Lesson #2 - deliverance comes through the blood of an innocent one.

That is the message of the Gospel. That is the message of the cross. That is the meaning of this Table. We are guilty. It is not that we “feel” guilty, it is that we are guilty! We have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Most of us will say, easily enough, that we are sinners. After all, no one is perfect.

Why did he come? What was his mission? He came to perfectly fulfill God’s righteous demands. He came to satisfy the holy law of God. He was without sin. He perfectly obeyed the Ten Commandments and every other law of God. He came to satisfy all of God’s requirements and he came as our substitute.

Romans 5:6-11 –

He came to give his life as a ransom.

He, who knew no sin was made sin for us so that we could become the righteousness of God in Christ. So we come this evening. This is my body given for you. Take and eat. This is the new covenant in my blood. Drink in remembrance of me.

There are those who want to rid the church of these horrible, awful hymns of the blood atonement. But I say, “sing on!” For without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness. I’m in agreement with the great old hymn based on 1 Peter 1:19 –

Gadsby’s Hymnal #1156 —— C.M. —— J. Irons Precious Blood. 1 Pet. 1. 19

What sacred Fountain yonder springs
Up from the throne of God,
And all new covenant blessings brings?
’Tis Jesus’ precious blood.

What mighty sum paid all my debt,
When I a bondman stood,
And has my soul at freedom set?
’Tis Jesus’ precious blood.

What stream is that which sweeps away
My sins just like a flood,?Nor lets one guilty blemish stay?
’Tis Jesus’ precious blood.

What voice is that which speaks for me
In heaven’s high court for good,
And from the curse has set me free?
’Tis Jesus’ precious blood.

What theme, my soul, shall best employ
Thy harp before thy God,?And make all heaven to ring with joy?
’Tis Jesus’ precious blood.

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Behold Your King: Palm Sunday, 2018

This is an exposition of John 12:12-19. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Palm Sunday, March 25, 2018.

Intro:

The date was December 4, 1977. The place was Bangui, the capital of the Central African Empire. It was the day of the coronation of his Imperial Majesty, Bokassa I. I must say, “It was an impressive affair.”

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The ceremony began with the blare of trumpets and the roll of drums. Bokassa’s twenty-nine official children paraded down the royal carpet to their seats. They were followed by Jean Bedel Bokassa II, heir to the throne, dressed in a white admiral’s uniform with gold braid. He was followed by Catherine, the favorite of Bokassa’s nine wives. Finally the emperor arrived in a gold imperial coach drawn by six matched Anglo-Norman horses. He wore a thirty-two-pound robe decorated with 785,000 pearls and gold embroidery. On his brow he wore a gold crown of laurel wreaths, symbolic of the favor of the gods. He took his seat on his $2.5 million eagle throne, took off his gold laurel wreath and, as Napoleon 173 years before had done, took his $2.5 million dollar crown, topped with an 80-caret diamond, and placed it on his own head declaring himself emperor. That little affair cost $25 million dollars. His kingdom lasted 2 years.

It was the year 30 AD. The place was Jerusalem. It was Passover season. The streets were crowded with pilgrims. The air was filled with joy and excitement. There was singing, dancing and laughter throughout the city. Off in the distance there came the faint echoes of a shouting mob. The shouts grow louder and louder until finally this strange parade made its way down from the Mount of Olives. But this was a very different kind of parade. Old clothes. Broken branches. Peasants shouting about a king. But what kind of king enters triumphantly on a donkey?

And how does such a one inspire people to cry, “Save us! Save us now?”
Our text this morning is found in the 12th chapter of John’s Gospel.

Text: John 12:12-19

Our Lord entered the city in a precise and calculated manner.
The citizens of Jerusalem had been debating for days about whether he would even show.
It is well known the religious establishment was determined to kill him.
So why enter in such a public way?
Why such a conspicuous display?
The answer is simple, His time had come.
That time determined by His Father in eternity past.

The Passover Lamb must be offered in payment for sin.

As we survey the chaos of that moment. We note the presence of impassioned believers. There are those who have heard His teaching and know that no one teaches like this man. They’ve watched as the eyes of the blind have been opened and they’ve seen the lame walk. Many have been in the presence of Lazarus, the once decaying corpse, and they believe this is the Christ! Others are just curious. They have heard the stories and they’re not sure what to believe. Still others are filled with rage and long for the destruction of this trouble-making Galilean. One thing is certain...

Thesis: The revelation of Jesus Christ demands a response.

He cannot be ignored. You cannot remain neutral. That option is not available to you. Once He is revealed you must believe in Him or you must reject Him.

John tells us the purpose of his writing is to present Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God that you might believe in Him. That you might trust in Him.

That you would surrender to Him as Lord and Savior. He says, “I’ve written this that you might know that He is the Christ and that you might have life by believing in His name.”

There are three things I want us to note from this text.

  1. Our Lord purposefully and deliberately reveals himself as the promised Messiah, the fulfillment of prophecy. (12:12-14)
  2. Our Lord graciously and deliberately reveals himself as the servant king and the Lamb of God. (12:15)
  3. Once revealed, He cannot be ignored. (12:16-19)

Conclusion:
There were those who waved palm branches and cried, “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” There were those who feared the whole world was going after him and thus despised Him all the more.

What is your response?

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From Sorrow to Joy!

From Sorrow to Joy!: Resurrection Sunday

This is an exposition of John 19:31-20:18. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, April 16, 2017.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 37:03 — 17.2MB)

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Intro:

You know the movie was good when you walk out of the theatre and you are drained.  You’re not even sure you’re going to make it to the car.  You’ve been sitting for the last two hours and watching a movie but you are drained.  You are exhaust because the movie was so intense.  You traveled through the whole range of emotions.  You just don’t have anything left.  You’re worn out, drained, dead on your feet and you look at your spouse and you say, “I could see that again!”

The problem is when you see that movie the second time – it’s lost something.  It is not quite as intense the second time around.  You know the hero is going to make it out alive.  You know how it is going to end.  Oh, you may still enjoy the movie but it just doesn’t compare with the first time.

There is, however, a story that never grows old.Continue reading