Pastor Mike : THE FINAL COUNTDOWN : A Ministry of CHRIST-LIVES MINISTRIES

As a boy Robert Louis Stevenson was intrigued by the work of the old lamplighter who went about with a ladder and a torch, setting the street lights ablaze for the night. One evening in Edinburgh, Scotland, as young Robert stood watching with childish fascination, his parents heard him exclaim, "Look, look! There is a man out there punching holes in the darkness!"

With one statement of childish wonder, Robert Louis Stevenson summed up the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came into this world and accomplished many great and miraculous wonders, yet His primary purpose was to punch great gaping holes in the spiritual darkness that shrouded this world. He came to be The Light Of The World

Intro: According to verse 2, the Jews were celebrating the Feasts of Tabernacles. This was a feast that occurred during the first part of our month of October. During this seven day feast, the Jews lived in booths made of tree branches to commemorate their forefather's pilgrimage through the wilderness. On each of these seven days, the High Priest would go to the Pool of Siloam and draw out water in a golden vessel. This water would then be poured out on the altar where the parts of the sacrifice were arranged. As the water was poured out, the people sang unto the Lord and shouted for joy. It was a time of great celebration and worship for the people. This kind of celebrating continued for 7 days. The eighth day was called the great day of the feast. On this day, sacrifices were again offered, but there was no singing and no shouting, this was known as a solemn day of repentance before the Lord. Another element was missing on this day as well; there was no water poured out on the eighth day. It was against this backdrop of silence and symbolism that Jesus stood up and proclaimed Himself to be the Fountain Of Living Water. When He spoke, thousands would have been present to hear Him, and everyone who heard him would have instantly understood what He meant.

We are presented with a new portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ. In this passage, Jesus is presented as The Bread Of Life.

This is an interesting portrait of Jesus, since bread is a substance known and used by every society on the face of the earth. From the American who goes the store to buy his bread to the savage who cooks his daily ration of bread on a stone beside his fire, bread is consumed by people everywhere. By the same taken, most people enjoy their bread. While some like meat and others don't, or some like greens and others don't, most people like bread. Bread is one of the few foods that can be tolerated by most digestive systems. Also, bread has a satisfying quality that few other food products have. Anyway you slice it, bread is good and it is a food that most people need, use and enjoy. When all this is taken together, it becomes clear why Jesus is portrayed as The Bread Of Life.

This great chapter gives us a portrait of Jesus as the Divine Teacher. We must remember that when Jesus came to this earth, He came to teach men how to flee darkness and come to the light. He came to teach men how to flee death and to enter into life. In this chapter, we find Jesus carrying out this ministry as a teacher. Here, He gets the opportunity to teach a teacher, and He does just that!

Jesus Christ is the Word of God!

21 And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners.

2 And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities.

3 And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

6 And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

8 And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

Intro: The events in this passage occur very near the end of Israel’s 40 year journey through the wilderness. God delivered the children of Israel from Egypt 40 years earlier. It took them 2 years to reach the Jordan River. During that time, the Lord gave them His Law, and taught them about worshiping Him. When they arrived at Jordan, they refused to cross over the river into the Promised Land. Because of their lack of faith and rebellion against God, the Lord sentenced the entire nation to wander in the wilderness until every member of that rebellious generation, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, died. It took 38 years for them all to die.

During that 38 year period, God was faithful to walk with Israel, to feed them with Manna everyday, to lead them from place to place, and to protect them from their enemies. God had been faithful to His people.

One of the unfortunate realities of living in this world is the existence of bullies. There are some people, and we all know who they are in our lives, who enjoy pushing others around. Bullying is not a new phenomenon. Bullies have existed in our world since Cain killed Abel at the dawn of the human race.

Jesus moves into a new set of impossible situations. He encounters a man possessed by thousands of demons. This poor, demon possessed man is in a desperate situation, He is unable to help himself, and the people around him are powerless to help him as well. After this incident, Jesus will deal with a diseased woman and a dead girl. All four of these situations were hopeless from a human perspective. Yet, in each of these cases, Jesus proved that He was the Master of them all.

I would imagine that the hours after the death of Jesus were a hopeless time for His disciples and for the others who followed Him.

• They expected great things from Jesus.

• They had placed all their faith, and their hopes in Him.

• They believed that He was the long-awaited Messiah, Who would deliver them from their Roman oppressors, and rule the kingdoms of the world.

Where did they get ideas like that? From Jesus Himself, of course.

• He told them that He was the Son of God.

• He told them that He was the Messiah.

• He told them that He would bring salvation to the world.

• He told them that He would rule over and eternal kingdom.

Yet, just a few days ago, many of His followers watched Him die a horrible death on a Roman cross. Others has seen His body anointed with spices, wrapped in linen, and sealed in a tomb. It was over. He was dead. He was gone. And, all their hopes had been buried with Him. It was a time of hopelessness, of shattered dreams, of broken hearts, of people filled with the dull ache of loss, and utter sadness.

Intro: This text presents three men. It speaks of three men who have been nailed to three crosses, dying three terrible deaths. The differences in their suffering were minimal. The differences in the men were enormous.

• On one side there is a thief dying in his sins. He has lived a life of crime, broken the laws of Rome, and has been sentenced to die. The sentence is being carried out, and this man is dying a horrible death. This man is rude, arrogant, and proud. He is in a hopeless situation. He is dying in his sins.

• On the other side, another thief is dying for his crimes. He is just as guilty as the first man. He has committed the same crimes, offended the same government, and has received the same sentence. He is paying the same price, feeling the same pain, and dying the same death.

Yet, he is different from the first man. While the first man is dying in his sins, this man is dying to his sins. This man is well aware of what he is facing. His eyes are opened to his condition and he is willing to do what it takes to get God’s help. Yet, he is still in a hopeless condition.

• In the middle another man hangs on a cross. He has offended some very powerful people. This man has spent the past three years traveling around the country preaching a message He calls “the Gospel of the Kingdom.” It is a message that promises salvation to all who will believe it. This man has healed the sick, fed the hungry, and raised the dead. He has done nothing wrong except expose the corruption of the religious leaders of the nation of Israel.