Moments In History

You see the beauty of the moments we are talking about tonight is that it is not the dead past, but rather is history in action! The events of the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension and their impact still take place today, creating moments that stand as monuments for those who profess Christ and undergo the transformation of the gospel! Seek God, Knock, ask, plead, beg, listen, understand, be in awe, in wonder, be broken, weep, rejoice!
Engage in what we are about to embark on right now!

Time Codes:

0:00 - Intro
7:35 - Crucifixion
15:48 - Resurrection 
25:05 - Ascension
32:39 - Response
36:08 - Conclusion

Music by
Over the limits
Vernacolmusic

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 7:35 Crucifixion
• 15:48 Resurrection
• 25:05 Ascension
• 32:39 Response
• 36:08 Conclusion

Transcript

Wildfire podcast is an extension of Wildfire, which has a focus of igniting men and women of God into a deeper discipleship with Christ, instilling people with a passion to radically and relentlessly pursue Christ wherever that leads.

That God's truth will spread like a wildfire.

Just wanna keep everyone calm.

I do have my Bible already up here.

I didn't just walk up with my phone.

God's word is here, so we can stay calm.

On December 7th, 1941, a date that will live in infamy, when the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

An attack that left the Pacific fleet crippled and brought the death of over 2,403 men.

You see, this was a moment in history that impacted lives on a global scale.

And it is still ingrained in the minds of so many today.

The lessons taught by this moment dictated the lives of nations.

You see, it would be America that would be the first country later after this to use nuclear weapons that would wipe out hundreds of thousands in a moment.

You see, human history is made up of moments.

Moments so significant that they have shaped the lives of billions.

And it seems like we live in an era of human history where we are surrounded and avalanched by those significant moments.

We have just came out of the global pandemic.

We are also confronted with a war.

And we are constantly being bombarded with the threat of nuclear weapons coming to our own country and hitting us.

And I suppose right now, you can think of significant moments in your own life.

Perhaps it was a marriage, perhaps it was whenever you had a child, a graduation, or perhaps you can think historically about significant moments that you have seen even in our own country.

I think back to 2001, when the Twin Towers was hit by those two planes.

So many of you can remember where you were at in that moment and what was happening.

You ran in, you told people, have you seen this?

Have you seen what's happening?

And in that moment, if they started talking to you about, here, what are we having for dinner tonight?

No, stop, have you seen the news?

Everything else would seem arbitrary and futile and really irreverent to talk about because of the news that has taken place.

And you see, despite all of these moments, and all of these moments in history that we appeal to you as significant, there is no greater moment than the good news that was brought by Jesus.

The good news is threefold.

Three moments, one transforming truth.

And my appeal to you today is this good news, these three significant moments.

Those human history moments say you couldn't look away, you had to talk about that.

Then how much more so the gospel truth?

The good news?

I'm left bewildered as to why we'd really talk about anything else.

So after this all, think to yourself that in any given conversation, I always think to myself, how do I get this conversation back to the gospel?

These people want to talk about, here, what are we going to do after this?

We're going to go down to the promenade, get ice cream, get coffee, get some tea and coffee down the back, juice, biscuits.

No!

I don't want to talk about that.

I want to talk about the good news.

I really can't talk about anything else.

And I pray after this that whenever I present to you the gospel truth in its totality, you will feel that conviction.

I really can't talk about anything else here.

Yeah, we can have a cup of tea, but can we talk about the gospel truth?

The way in which we are going to talk about that is three moments.

One, the crucifixion.

Two, the resurrection.

And three, the ascension of Jesus Christ.

But why talk about this?

Why sit in your chair and with the breath that God has given you, should you listen to me?

You see, there is no greater truth than this.

And the reality of these events and their impact are beyond calculation.

The reality of these events have changed lives and will continue to change lives.

It's more than just human history, man and their molehills.

We are talking about the supernatural now.

There's nothing normal about what we are going to talk about.

There's nothing normal about what happens when we start to talk about it.

This is beyond meager interest.

I'll put an ear in.

This is in the realm of deep conviction and transformation.

These are not empty words that I'm about to speak to you, nor are they hollow promises.

See, this is the Word of God that is alive and active, and this is the redemptive plan of God in action.

There is no room for passivity here this evening.

As you sit here tonight, it is a privilege that God has given you, but it is also a tremendous responsibility.

You see, whenever we think about the crucifixion, the resurrection, the ascension of Jesus Christ, this is not just dead history in the past, but this is history in action.

The impact of the gospel truth today creates monuments, monuments in people's lives, their testimony of the transformation of the gospel truth in their own life.

So I say to you, seek, knock, ask, plead, beg God tonight that He would stir, that He would convict, and that you would respond the way that He wants you to tonight.

Engage in what we are about to embark on.

So let us pray before His throne room.

God, I pray now that I am indwelled with the spirit of the living God as so many others are.

And the word of God is alive and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, and you, the triune God, want to move.

And so I know that you will tonight, and I pray that those, every individual sitting in this room, would know that as well.

Help us come before you now.

Amen.

So we're going to look at first the crucifixion.

And in all of these, we're gonna look at the event, we're gonna look at the impact of that event, and then we're gonna look at the teaching of that event.

Now I want you just to turn to Mark chapter 15, verses 22, and we're gonna read to 38.

Now this is the living word of God, and this specific account tells us about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior.

And so would God's people come and exemplify a fear and reverence for his word.

They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull.

Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it, and they crucified him.

Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

It was nine in the morning when they crucified him.

The written notice of the charge against him read, the king of the Jews.

They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right, one on his left, and those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, so, you are going to destroy the temple and build it again three days.

Come down from the cross, save yourself.

In the same way, the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves.

He saved others, they said, but he cannot save himself.

Let this messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.

Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.

And at three in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Eluai, Eluai, lama sabachthanai, which means, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

When some of those standing near heard this, they said, listen, he's calling Elijah.

Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff and offered it to Jesus to drink.

Now, leave him alone.

Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down, he said.

And with a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

If I may be transparent with those of you in this room, really over the months, over the weeks, what God has been revealing to me and convicting me is that whenever I read these texts of scripture, and my fear is, this is true for so many in the room today, we've lost it.

And what I mean by, we've lost it, that first encounter with Jesus Christ.

Whenever we read that account of his crucifixion, it tore us apart.

And we were filled with such wonder and such awe.

And so often I'm filled with confusion.

I don't get this account.

I know it to be true, but I just don't get how Jesus, creator, is now being crucified by his creation.

And the irony of it all is, it's his creation that he's being crucified for.

And regardless of what you sit in this room tonight, Elder, Deacon, or maybe you sit here, listen, I'm a parent, my child's there, I'm a child, my parents there, my friends are around me.

Can you just be open to responding the way that God wants you to whenever we talk about these things?

This account alone, without me having to give any exposition, should do something.

It should recall the testimony in your life.

That was the event, and the impact of this event is recorded for us in Matthew 15, 38.

The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and when the centurion who stood there in front of Jesus saw how he died, he said, surely this man was the Son of God.

You see, the cross resulted in the temple curtain being torn in two, and what that symbolized was the gap was bridged between the supernatural and the natural, between that which was unholy and that which was holy.

Through one mediator, and that is Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross.

And more than that, we read of the centurion's response that whenever all of this event was unfolding, the event that we just read, he had a response.

Surely this was the Son of God.

The events of the cross, and when we talk about these things, bring conviction.

The teaching of this event shows us that the cross is where justice and love meet.

The Bible teaches that God demonstrated his love for us, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The Bible teaches that Jesus was pierced for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon him.

And it is by his wounds we are healed.

See, what will mark the difference for so many tonight is those who know and those who understand.

You see, to know is to say, I get that.

But to understand is where the knowing and the understanding meets, and it produces this transformation.

Wait a second, it was my iniquities.

It was my sin.

My jealousy and my envy and my hatred and my sexual immorality, my addiction to porn, my sexual lust, my propensity to just be angry at people.

Do everything without complaining, the Bible says, yet I complain all the time.

Do everything enthusiastically, the Bible says, but I lack enthusiasm.

I lack passion for the Gospel.

It says, do not be ashamed of the Gospel, but yet in so many ways, I am ashamed of the Gospel.

That's my iniquities and my sin.

In its most crutesque form, if it could be exposed to you tonight, who I am in and of myself, it would repel you.

But yet Jesus Christ, son of the living God, this is why he's on the cross.

My iniquities, your iniquities, and my peace, and my healing comes from his stripes.

The understanding of that, it breaks me almost every single day.

The cross is a story of victory.

Don't let people propagate this lie to you that the cross is this moment of weakness within the triune godhead, because it's really not.

It's a victorious moment.

You see, it tells us of our sins, which are so many, and how they have been expedited through the propitiatory sacrifice of Jesus.

Expiation means the removal of our sins.

Propitiation is the means to which they were removed.

Jesus Christ, the lamb who was without blemish.

The cross teaches that it is not about you.

It was never about you.

It will never be about you.

But rather, it has always been about Jesus.

It is still about Jesus, and it will never stop being about Jesus and what he did for you.

And finally, the cross necessitates the next moment in history.

The resurrection.

The event is recorded for us in Luke chapter 24, verses one to six.

You can go there if you like.

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared, and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

But when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.

And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, why do you seek the living among the dead?

He is not here, but he has risen.

That's what I'm talking about.

I don't know, maybe our response to that is a rim of silence, but surely there was just one person who couldn't contain it whenever I said that Jesus is alive, and you just shout, hallelujah!

That's the type of knee-jerk response I think is so often lost, because we're so scared of the social environment that we've created.

There's only so many ways that we can respond in this room, right?

It would be embarrassing if God convicted me of the cross.

It would be embarrassing if I was so excited about his resurrection that I just jumped up and down and praised, or I fell to my knees and I started weeping.

The impact of this event is recorded for us in Matthew chapter 28, verse 8.

So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to his disciples.

We read of the response of the centurion to the cross was one of confession, and I were reading the response of the woman who were at the tomb.

They ran, they did it quickly, and they did so with joy and fear.

I love that response.

There is this urgency and this earnestness.

The tomb's empty.

Jesus has risen.

So listen, I may not always be happy, but as I say to people, I am always joyful because that tomb is always empty.

And Jesus, he's risen.

And you know what?

I get down on my knees, and I have such fear and reverence, because you know what?

The tomb's empty.

And Jesus has risen, so I don't have any other category of response except joy and fear and an urgency to go tell people in my work, in my football, guess what?

The tomb's empty.

The story wasn't over at the cross because the tomb's empty.

And the teaching of the resurrection tells us of triumphant hope.

See, in 1 Peter it says, praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ in his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Don't we get it?

He's not here in the empty tomb.

I loved what the angel said.

Why do you seek the living among the dead?

Stop looking for Jesus in the dead places of life, because he's not there.

He's not there.

Jesus has risen.

So you know what?

You can go to lust, and you can go to lies, and you can go to money, and you can go to your own notoriety, and your own fame, and you can look to yourself, but there are empty places, and Jesus isn't there, because Jesus is alive.

And where Jesus is, there is life.

We are no longer spiritually dead.

To be spiritually dead simply means not to be alive, spiritually, because we're dead spiritually.

But yet we were crucified with Christ.

In our sin, Jesus came, He took us in our sin, and we were crucified with Him.

But just as we were crucified with Him, so too it was that we rose with Jesus Christ.

Now, the curse of physical death, it still pains us today.

But we as Christians are the only ones who possess a hope that because the grave couldn't hold Him, the grave can't hold us.

And when confronted by death, we as followers of Christ can say, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

It was only this week that one of my colleagues lost his mom.

That's it for him, because he doesn't have Christ, and he doesn't have the hope of the resurrection, and we do.

And I don't know what will happen when a people, a family of God, his children, actually start to live out the truth as if it's actually true.

If it's true that I was crucified with Christ, and I now rise with him, and that the tomb was empty, that has got to do something.

Don't look to the standards set by other Christians who are lukewarm.

Don't look to the standards set by churches and the normality of other people.

Look to what scripture says.

Just read Acts.

Acts is so different from the churches that I see, and I want that so badly.

Can you imagine in Acts, after being confronted with the gospel truth and the events that unfolded, where the disciples were like, I wonder what we're going to do for the next few years.

You know, Peter comes along, he says, I'm going to build an income, get that bank account increased, I'm going to aspire and assail up the ladder.

It's like, everyone sees how crazy that is, right, but it is how we so often live.

I am here on earth to advance his kingdom, I simply can't do anything else.

I have got tunnel vision, as we all should have, because of the crucifixion and the resurrection.

And the resurrection teaches us about sanctification.

See, the resurrection, it reminds us of what has been done, it reminds us also of what is being done, and it reminds us of what will be done.

What has been done is that we have risen with Jesus, and have experienced that transformation.

Imperative, fact.

It says in Romans, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies, also through his spirit that dwells in you.

What is being done, the Bible teaches us of the ongoing work of the trying God, 2 Corinthians, and we all with on the old faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord who is the spirit.

What has been done, what is being done, but also what will be done.

2 Corinthians, and we all with on the old faces, beholding the glory of the Lord.

How often do we just behold the glory of the Lord?

And in 1 Corinthians, I love this language.

But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret.

Can you imagine?

Just Paul just getting that divine knowledge, and here he is with the people.

Let me reveal to you a wonderful secret.

We will not die, but we will all be transformed.

It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye.

When the last trumpet is blown, for when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever, and we who are living will also be transformed, for our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die.

Our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

What has been done, what is being done, but also what will be done.

You see, if the crucifixion taught us to look at ourselves, the resurrection tells us to look forward.

And finally, the resurrection necessitates the next moment in history, the ascension.

The event is recorded for us in Ox 1, verses 6 to 9.

You can turn there.

You know what?

Turn there, because it's epic.

I want to read it, I want everyone to read it.

Ox 1, verses 6 to 9.

So this is following the crucifixion, following the resurrection.

So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom of Israel?

He replied, it is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in old Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight.

If we read about the impact of this event, the ascension of Jesus Christ, just go to verses 10 and 11.

While he was going, they were gazing up towards heaven.

Suddenly two men in white robes stood by them.

They said, men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven?

This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

Can you imagine being there physically present, ministering with Jesus for three years, watching him go through the crucifixion and everything that that represented, then to see him just three days later rise from the dead?

And now you're standing with him and you're saying, okay, now is your time, right?

You've rose from the dead, and now you're gonna establish a material kingdom that we can all get around, see, touch, smell.

And Jesus is like, no, no.

I'm gonna give you my spirit.

What a one-up on what the disciples, the disciples wanted a physical kingdom, some building, and Jesus said, now I'm gonna make you the temple to which my spirit will come and dwell.

And they're like, yes!

And they're giving the commission to go in Joel's day in Samaria and to the ends of the earth.

Can you imagine what they're thinking?

This resurrection power?

Jesus Christ, son of the living God?

Yeah, we can do that.

No problem at all.

I'll go proclaim the good news.

Then all of a sudden, in a moment, Jesus starts to rise from the ground.

The disciples are probably thinking to themselves, well, he just rose from the dead, so this is really nothing, him lifting up from the ground.

And then he just keeps going into the clouds.

And they're just left there, staring.

He just gave us a commission, right?

He's just gone.

And I wonder how long they would have stood there if it wasn't for the angels, who burst into the scene, and they say, men of Galilee, what are you doing?

Didn't you just hear the commission given by your king to go into all the nations?

This is unbelievable.

As the disciples, they shake themselves, and they're like, you're right, we've got to go to Jerusalem, wait for the Spirit to come upon us, and then we've got to go with the gospel truth.

That is His crucifixion, His resurrection, and now His ascension.

And we can do nothing else.

It is our expectation, it is our command, it is a necessity, it is a privilege, but also it's simply the natural response.

I can't do anything else.

Once I've encountered Christ and this information, it just exudes out of me, and it just bursts out on to people.

You see, the ascension teaches us so much, and it is often the most neglected part of the gospel truth and the ministry of Jesus, yet it is of central importance.

Why?

Because it teaches us of the prevailing glory and sovereignty of God.

You see, Jesus did not remain on the cross, Jesus did not remain in the tomb, and Jesus did not remain physically with his disciples.

No, Jesus ascended and is now at the right hand of the Father, where he reigns.

In 1 Peter, it says through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, he has gone into heaven at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, powers having been subjected to him.

You see, Jesus was crucified for us, and us crucified with him.

Jesus rose from the dead.

The tomb is empty.

The tomb is empty.

Thank goodness.

There's one guaranteed Christian in the room.

And more than that, not only is the tomb empty, but Jesus reigns.

He reigns.

You know what?

Switch on the news channel.

Go to Biden.

Go to Sunak.

Maybe not.

Okay?

And then, if you want, go to Vladimir Putin.

And then at the end of all of that, shut it off, Jesus reigns.

You know what?

No matter what changes in history, all that landscape, everything that shifts, one fact remains, and that is that Jesus reigns.

He reigns.

You know, if the cross taught us about salvation, about looking at ourselves, and the resurrection taught us about sanctification and looking forward, the ascension teaches us about glorification and looking up, fixing our eyes and our gaze on Jesus Christ.

The one who reigns.

In 1 Corinthians, it says, We do not lose heart.

God's people, we do not lose heart.

Though our outer self is wasting away, and our inner self is being renewed day by day, for this light, momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

Find a comparison you can't.

You see, it is the father who gave the son glory, and it is the son who gives us glory, and the finality, the completion, the perfection, the consummation of all this that we've talked about will come when Jesus Christ, he returns.

He will return the same way he ascended.

Now, that's a moment in history.

The final moment, the climatic moment, when Jesus Christ returns.

You see, what we've talked about tonight is three moments in history that far surpass any other moment.

How we've talked about that?

Well, we talked about the events, we talked about the impact of those events, and we talked about what those events actually teach us.

There is nothing more important than your understanding, your belief, and your acceptance of the gospel truth.

And so I want to leave with two responses because there is only two responses and there is only two groups of people for those two responses.

And I'll begin first with my family, God's children.

And don't switch off, because this is for you.

Don't say, well, this couldn't be for me, this response.

The response is this.

When you are presented with the gospel truth, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the ascension of Jesus Christ, and everything that that typifies, what is your response?

Because you have one.

You have a response.

And in this moment right now, I want you to look past me.

Look past me.

See the truth of everything that was presented, because that's not mine.

That's God's truth.

That's God's redemptive plan.

I am merely the vessel in which God is communicating that tonight.

So look past me.

Look to the gospel truth.

And fix your eyes upward to He who reigns right now.

And I want you to ask.

I want you to come before His throne room.

I want you to pray.

God, do I respond to the gospel truth the way that I need to respond to the gospel truth?

You ask yourself that question and see what the answer is.

Are you broken for the gospel?

Do you rejoice over the gospel?

Do you have fear and reverence and awe and wonder over the gospel?

When was the last time you were utterly perplexed over the gospel truth?

For me, it was just sitting there, listening to the praise, and I thought to myself, I'm a sinner.

That was my destination, was hell.

I deserved that.

There's no escape.

And even as I sit there, crucified with Jesus, risen with Jesus, knowing that he reigns, I sit there and I'm reminded I still fall short of God's glory, even as his child, and it pains me far more as it should.

And yet I think to myself, amidst all that, I'm about to get up here and unpack the glorious truth of the gospel that changed my life.

And the second response is for the second category of people in this room.

And that is sinners.

Those who do not know Christ.

And that includes those who profess with their mouth Jesus, but in the living of their lives and in the quiet moments as you sit there now, you say to me, I know I'm not crucified with Christ.

I know I haven't risen with Christ.

And I know that whenever he returns, all that does is fill me with an anxiety and a despair because I have no eternal security.

It doesn't fill me with a hope.

Two responses.

Followers of Christ and those who are not saved.

The crucifixion, salvation makes us look at ourselves.

The resurrection, sanctification, it makes us look ahead.

The ascension, glorification, it makes us look up.

How will you respond tonight?