Introduction
The idea that there was some sort of physical love between Mary Magdalene and Jesus has been around for a while.
The gospel of Philip, a Gnostic gospel dated around the third century and assigned Philip’s name to give it reader credibility.
It was not a first century witness to the life of Jesus at all, yet it stated that Jesus kissed Mary.
This was no eyewitness account as there are no eyewitness accounts even remotely pointing to Mary Magdalene being the wife of Jesus.
If one were to read the gospel of Philip, we would find it to be a series of nonsensical unrelated random utterances
Describing the Biblical Text
This text this morning describes Mary as being a woman from whom Jesus cast 7 demons.
Does she come up any where else in the NT?
Yes, she does.
We find Mary at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified.
Then we find her at the empty tomb on that first Easter morning.
She was without a doubt a significant part of Jesus ministry and she was certainly worthy of being mentioned in the gospel.
How we see her following Jesus is also very interesting because she is there to support His ministry at some pretty key times.
And, in some pretty key ways.
Narrate the Contextual application
Looking at this passage, we se service.
We see someone whose life was changed by Jesus and who was willing to follow Him with her whole heart and life.
She really did love Jesus but it as not with the love of a wife for a husband, it was the love of a devoted follower.
There was no eros, there was agape.
She is showing us how we are to love Jesus.
Life Application (thesis)
She was a life that was changed and she was able to demonstrate gratitude.
Has your life been changed through Jesus Christ?
Has God made a difference in your life?
How are you giving thanks for that difference?
What is your life saying about Jesus as you seek to live for Him if you seek to live for Him?
As we serve Christ, we are to demonstrate gratitude when God changes our lives.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
From this text and in the life of Mary Magdalene, we will see three demonstrations this morning.
God’s grace always requires a response.
I am sure that you have all heard the saying, “When I say Jump, I expect you to say how high.”
As God’s grace comes to us, it does not come waiting for a reply from us, it comes moving to reply through faith repentance and then works that honor Christ.
As we see the description of Mary in this passage she is following Jesus.
Mary was hanging out with the disciples sort of in the in crowd around Jesus because she had received the grace of God.
Seven demons had gone out from her and we have to assume that they were cast out by Jesus because of the text saying healed of evil spirits.
So, Mary was healed of her evil Spirits and thusly followed Jesus.
She was healed of that as result of God’s grace.
She was simply a woman that Jesus chose to heal without merit or without desserts.
Think of it this way, how could a demon possessed woman do anything to earn or merit a second look from God.
We have to attribute the response of God to Mary as an act of mercy because of His grace.
I am about to say something here that will cause some of us to take a double think.
Grace is not an offer that God makes to us.
Once His grace is realized in someone’s life, they are exercising faith in Christ.
Remember what it says in Ephesian 2:8, “For by grace are you saved.”
Grace is operand of salvation, not the offer.
The offer is the preaching of the gospel itself but Grace is the effective moving of the Spirit of God in salvation that arises from the preaching of the gospel.
Grace is that which moves some to respond to the message of the cross while others reject Christ.
Where the gospel has been refused, ignored, or unheard, grace has not been present.
Grace is always effective in its call.
Grace is always heeded as it is the unmerited favor of God on those who are being saved.
I heard a pastor make this statement once that God looked down and saw some potential in a six year old boy and offered his grace to me.
First of all, if God saw potential and then offered grace, it would not be grace.
The potential would become merit and at that point, the concept of grace is lost.
God looked down and bestowed grace on that six year old little boy who did the only thing that he could; he became a follower of Jesus Christ.
All the other stuff like becoming a preacher or realizing his potential are just manifestations of the discipleship process whether he realizes the process or not.
Mary is doing al that she can do.
She is following Christ.
Her discipleship process carries her to the cross and to the empty tomb.
Where does our process carry us?
Does it carry us to church on Sunday nights?
Does it carry us to a neighbor’s door or to the side of a hurting or ailing person?
God’s Grace requires a response.
God’s grace always requires a testimony.
We just discussed why Mary was following Jesus.
She experienced His grace.
Now, what was her experience in coming to Christ?
\Seven Demons had to move out because they had been evicted and they didn’t even have any junk to leave on the curb.
It is funny how Luke is able to record that since he is the gospel writer who was not with Jesus as a disciple.
But what does that tell us?
It tells us that Mary had a testimony.
She was able to recount the grace of God and the conversion of her life to following Christ.
I wonder can we do that.
Hopefully we know where God’s grace entered our lives and exactly when God’s forgiveness was realized.
Most of us should have similar testimonies.
Some will be testimonies of wild stuff and some will be testimonies of being raised in church.
But, all the testimonies in here will have one thing in common.
I was a sinner separated from God by my Sins
The punishment for my sins was received by Jesus when he died on the cross for me.
I received Jesus into my life and asked Him to forgive me and he did.
I now know for certain that I have eternal life.
If you would like to have that testimony right now, you can pray the following prayer.
Heads bowed and eyes closed.
Dear Lord, I know that my life has been displeasing to you and that I deserve your wrath and your judgment. I know that your grace is working at this moment and I acknowledge that right now. I receive you Jesus and repent of my sins. I will make you the lord of my life and give you control.
Thank you for dying on the cross for me and for saving me today. Amen
What else do we see here this morning?
God’s grace always requires gracious giving.
Here they go asking for money again.
You folks know that I don’t ever bring up money unless we are promoting a special offering or the text simply deals with the subject.
Today, the text deals with the subject.
Look at verse three
The text could also be read, they were ministering with the best they had.
Have you ever considered giving as ministry?
I think that giving is ministry.
I also think it is worship and that we rob ourselves of worshiping in our giving if we give through the Sunday School.
But our text clearly shows us that giving is ministry or service.
What does that mean?
If a follower of Christ is not giving to the work of Christ, they are not serving Christ.
Followers of Jesus do not tithe because it is some kind of obligation or legal requirement for it is not.
Tithing is an expression of love for the Lord and His ministry.
I love my wife so when she tells me that she wants another African daisy for the front flower bed, I give it to her.
We love Jesus and he asks us to give to His work on this earth through the church.
These people who followed Jesus that we see in this text gave to Jesus on top of the fact that they gave a tithe to the temple which was over 20% per year.
Now, here they are supporting Jesus out of their first and their best.
It is amazing what Grace can and will do in your and for you.
Grace requires gracious giving.
So if our giving is not joyful and gracious, then there may well be a lack of Grace in our lives and if grace is not present, then Christ is not present either.
So just how grateful are we that God has done a work of grace in our lives?
Have we responded in faith to God’s grace?
Have we testified to others?
Are we giving as an expression of ministry and worship?
Let’s resolve this morning to let grace be demonstrated in our lives just like was in Mary Magdalene's.
That way there will be no confusion and the world will see the church as the bride of Christ.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
The DivinityCode -- Jesus, The Divine -- John 1:1
Introduction
Book and Movie phenomenon
Bestseller
Even though it is fiction, it is a deceptive book in terms of the so-called facts that it presents.
Because of this phenomenon, there has been another wave of controversy surrounding a group of bone boxes known as ossuaries where they have found the bones of people with the following names: Jesus, Mary, Judas, and Joseph. These are names that are very common in Jerusalem during the time of Jesus. Oh, did I mention this mass grave was found in Jerusalem? Did you know that Jesus was a Galilean and would have been entombed in Galilee if he was to be buried with His family? The strongest point that there is to prove that this is the Jesus of the Bible is that the DNA evidence shows that the bones in the Jesus box are unrelated to the bones in the Mary box.
Isn’t it funny how it is okay to try and disprove and to ridicule the Christian faith.
The Da Vinci Code is just such an attempt as well.
It is cleverly disguised as a novel with a very engaging plot and story.
Describing the Biblical Text
Some of the premises that are raised in the book are some of the very same things that John wrote his gospel to dispute.
It centered on a heresy called Gnosticism.
It was a first century cult that focused on knowledge.
Gnostics are really hard to pin down or to define specifically because they had beliefs that were all over the place.
The word Gnostic comes from the Greek word gnosis which means knowledge.
One thing that can be said is that the Gnostics did not believe that Jesus could be of the same nature and the same essence as God because all things that were matter were not spirit and were thus evil or bad.
So, John opens with a direct affront to that thinking.
In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
Narrate the Contextual application
John’s point?
Jesus is eternal; Jesus is divine.
How we live our lives as followers of Jesus depends on our understanding of Him.
Life Application (thesis)
What is the truth that we see here?
Jesus is God.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
Let’s take a look at this passage this morning and see what attributes are covered here.
The first attributes we will see here is that Jesus is eternal.
This week, we have seen two news events take place. The first was the dropping of the charges against the Duke Lacrosse players. The second was the firing of Don Imus. All week, these stories have dominated the news. But that is how the news works. Something is found that will appeal to current popular culture and the journalists run with it; the talk shows talk about it; and the panel discussions wear it out. I want to just mention a couple of things to you and see if you remember them when they ere the big thing. William Jewell; Catoe Cailin; Claus von Bulow; El Niño. All of these were fly by night huge stories of their day.
William Jewell was wrongly accused of being the Atlanta Olympic bomber. Catoe Calin was living in OJ’s house when murders took place. Claus von Bulow was accused of killing his wife and El Niño was the Pacific Ocean phenomenon that let to freakish weather in 1998. Some of these things, so huge in the news at the time, are so far removed from us now that we don’t remember them.
That is because they are temporal things.
But, Jesus is eternal.
When we look at our text this morning we see something that is really intriguing.
First of all, John uses a really unusual term to refer to Jesus.
In the beginning was the word.
This was a term that was borrowed from the philosophers of the day and it was used in a variety of ways.
But, as we see it used here, it referred to that which is absolute, something the Gnostics who were the object of the teaching of John would readily understand.
The Word was in the beginning.
John was saying that Jesus existed even before the creation.
He was not speaking of the incarnate Jesus that was born in the manger.
He was speaking of the eternal Son of God who has eternally existed in the heavens as the second person of the trinity.
Genesis 1 refers to Him when God says let Us make man in Our image.
We see Him in Colossians, Hebrews and in the third verse of this very chapter as the force and the impetus behind the creation.
And, we see Him described as the eternal plan of God for our redemption.
In Revelation He is called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
The lamb slain refers to the death of Jesus for the penalty of our sins.
The Bible says that we are separated from God because of the things that we have done to displease Him.
But, God loves us and sent His son Jesus to pay the price of our sin.
The wages of sin is death but eh gift of God is eternal life.
Jesus received our wages that we might receive His life.
To have that life, the bible tells us that we need to receive Jesus into our hearts and make Him the master of our lives.
If that is your desire this morning, you can pray to receive Jesus.
All heads bowed and all eyes closed.
If it your desire to know Christ and to follow Him today you can pray this prayer.
Dear Lord, I know I have done things to displease you. I have done things worthy of eternal condemnation and death. I am sorry for those things and desire to follow you. I receive you Jesus into my life to be my savior and my Lord. Thank you for dying for me on the cross and saving me today. Amen
If that was your prayer this morning, then Jesus, the divine, the eternal Son of God now resides in your life.
This then would take us to our second point whis is the same as our thesis statement.
Jesus is God.
As we begin to look at this point, we will need to examine some church history.
In AD 325, the emperor Constantine called for a council of church leaders to commence in a city called Nicea. In the early 4th century there was a theologian named Arius who was teaching that Jesus was not of the same essence and substance as God and this teaching was creating problems in the church. There was doctrinal disagreement that needed to be settled because it was disrupting the Roman Empire. 318 theologians and elders attended the council and discussed the deity of Jesus Christ.
According to the novel, the scholar professor Teabing it was at this meeting that Jesus’ status was upgraded from a mere mortal man and great teacher to being the son of God.
Unfortunately, the history in the novel is as much a work of fiction as the novel itself.
At the time Nicea was called, Arius was viewed as the heretic
His was the disrupting teaching.
Let’s look at the real evidence.
The Gospel of John which we have opened before us this morning is dated around AD 95.
He verse that we see this morning opening this book says that in the beginning was the word and the word was with God.
If it stopped there, we would be in trouble.
But it continues to say, “And the word was God.
John is not mincing words.
He is absolutely positively declaring the divinity of Jesus in this verse.
If that is not enough to be convinced of John’s point, in John 10:30, John records Jesus saying this, “I and the Father are one.”
The book of Philippians, written about AD60 has this to say in chapter two. “HHHHHk
Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus who did not consider his equality with God something to be grasped.”
The books of Colossians and Hebrews describe Jesus as creator and specifically give him the divine attributes of God.
Paul quotes Joel 2:32 in Romans 10:13, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” The word Lord in Joel is the sacred tetragramaton, the four letter sacred name of God. The context of Romans clearly makes the object of that statement Jesus.
In Romans, Paul is clearly equating Jesus with the Lord Jehovah.
All of this is in the first century and Nicea does not take place until the fourth century but the novel says that until Nicea Jesus was viewed as a mortal man.
What was the conclusion at Nicea?
Their conclusion was that Jesus was of the same essence and nature as God.
Here is a quote from the Nicene Creed, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.
The conclusion of the delegates matched the three previous centuries of Christian thought from the Apostles to church Fathers like Ignatius, Polycarp, and Clement of Rome.
One more tidbit.
Professor Teabing also stated in the novel that the vote on the deity of Christ passed by a relatively close vote.
I am sure that there is someone somewhere who believes that 313 to 5 is close.
By the way, that is a higher percentage vote than the vote calling me here by 1.4 percent.
Anyone who blindly accepts the history portrayed in The Da Vinci Code is unfortunately being duped.
This morning as we see Jesus as the Eternal God as viewed by the early church and her apostles, I pray that we will have the confidence to face each day knowing that the one who died for us and who lives in us is God Almighty.
Book and Movie phenomenon
Bestseller
Even though it is fiction, it is a deceptive book in terms of the so-called facts that it presents.
Because of this phenomenon, there has been another wave of controversy surrounding a group of bone boxes known as ossuaries where they have found the bones of people with the following names: Jesus, Mary, Judas, and Joseph. These are names that are very common in Jerusalem during the time of Jesus. Oh, did I mention this mass grave was found in Jerusalem? Did you know that Jesus was a Galilean and would have been entombed in Galilee if he was to be buried with His family? The strongest point that there is to prove that this is the Jesus of the Bible is that the DNA evidence shows that the bones in the Jesus box are unrelated to the bones in the Mary box.
Isn’t it funny how it is okay to try and disprove and to ridicule the Christian faith.
The Da Vinci Code is just such an attempt as well.
It is cleverly disguised as a novel with a very engaging plot and story.
Describing the Biblical Text
Some of the premises that are raised in the book are some of the very same things that John wrote his gospel to dispute.
It centered on a heresy called Gnosticism.
It was a first century cult that focused on knowledge.
Gnostics are really hard to pin down or to define specifically because they had beliefs that were all over the place.
The word Gnostic comes from the Greek word gnosis which means knowledge.
One thing that can be said is that the Gnostics did not believe that Jesus could be of the same nature and the same essence as God because all things that were matter were not spirit and were thus evil or bad.
So, John opens with a direct affront to that thinking.
In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
Narrate the Contextual application
John’s point?
Jesus is eternal; Jesus is divine.
How we live our lives as followers of Jesus depends on our understanding of Him.
Life Application (thesis)
What is the truth that we see here?
Jesus is God.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
Let’s take a look at this passage this morning and see what attributes are covered here.
The first attributes we will see here is that Jesus is eternal.
This week, we have seen two news events take place. The first was the dropping of the charges against the Duke Lacrosse players. The second was the firing of Don Imus. All week, these stories have dominated the news. But that is how the news works. Something is found that will appeal to current popular culture and the journalists run with it; the talk shows talk about it; and the panel discussions wear it out. I want to just mention a couple of things to you and see if you remember them when they ere the big thing. William Jewell; Catoe Cailin; Claus von Bulow; El Niño. All of these were fly by night huge stories of their day.
William Jewell was wrongly accused of being the Atlanta Olympic bomber. Catoe Calin was living in OJ’s house when murders took place. Claus von Bulow was accused of killing his wife and El Niño was the Pacific Ocean phenomenon that let to freakish weather in 1998. Some of these things, so huge in the news at the time, are so far removed from us now that we don’t remember them.
That is because they are temporal things.
But, Jesus is eternal.
When we look at our text this morning we see something that is really intriguing.
First of all, John uses a really unusual term to refer to Jesus.
In the beginning was the word.
This was a term that was borrowed from the philosophers of the day and it was used in a variety of ways.
But, as we see it used here, it referred to that which is absolute, something the Gnostics who were the object of the teaching of John would readily understand.
The Word was in the beginning.
John was saying that Jesus existed even before the creation.
He was not speaking of the incarnate Jesus that was born in the manger.
He was speaking of the eternal Son of God who has eternally existed in the heavens as the second person of the trinity.
Genesis 1 refers to Him when God says let Us make man in Our image.
We see Him in Colossians, Hebrews and in the third verse of this very chapter as the force and the impetus behind the creation.
And, we see Him described as the eternal plan of God for our redemption.
In Revelation He is called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
The lamb slain refers to the death of Jesus for the penalty of our sins.
The Bible says that we are separated from God because of the things that we have done to displease Him.
But, God loves us and sent His son Jesus to pay the price of our sin.
The wages of sin is death but eh gift of God is eternal life.
Jesus received our wages that we might receive His life.
To have that life, the bible tells us that we need to receive Jesus into our hearts and make Him the master of our lives.
If that is your desire this morning, you can pray to receive Jesus.
All heads bowed and all eyes closed.
If it your desire to know Christ and to follow Him today you can pray this prayer.
Dear Lord, I know I have done things to displease you. I have done things worthy of eternal condemnation and death. I am sorry for those things and desire to follow you. I receive you Jesus into my life to be my savior and my Lord. Thank you for dying for me on the cross and saving me today. Amen
If that was your prayer this morning, then Jesus, the divine, the eternal Son of God now resides in your life.
This then would take us to our second point whis is the same as our thesis statement.
Jesus is God.
As we begin to look at this point, we will need to examine some church history.
In AD 325, the emperor Constantine called for a council of church leaders to commence in a city called Nicea. In the early 4th century there was a theologian named Arius who was teaching that Jesus was not of the same essence and substance as God and this teaching was creating problems in the church. There was doctrinal disagreement that needed to be settled because it was disrupting the Roman Empire. 318 theologians and elders attended the council and discussed the deity of Jesus Christ.
According to the novel, the scholar professor Teabing it was at this meeting that Jesus’ status was upgraded from a mere mortal man and great teacher to being the son of God.
Unfortunately, the history in the novel is as much a work of fiction as the novel itself.
At the time Nicea was called, Arius was viewed as the heretic
His was the disrupting teaching.
Let’s look at the real evidence.
The Gospel of John which we have opened before us this morning is dated around AD 95.
He verse that we see this morning opening this book says that in the beginning was the word and the word was with God.
If it stopped there, we would be in trouble.
But it continues to say, “And the word was God.
John is not mincing words.
He is absolutely positively declaring the divinity of Jesus in this verse.
If that is not enough to be convinced of John’s point, in John 10:30, John records Jesus saying this, “I and the Father are one.”
The book of Philippians, written about AD60 has this to say in chapter two. “HHHHHk
Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus who did not consider his equality with God something to be grasped.”
The books of Colossians and Hebrews describe Jesus as creator and specifically give him the divine attributes of God.
Paul quotes Joel 2:32 in Romans 10:13, “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” The word Lord in Joel is the sacred tetragramaton, the four letter sacred name of God. The context of Romans clearly makes the object of that statement Jesus.
In Romans, Paul is clearly equating Jesus with the Lord Jehovah.
All of this is in the first century and Nicea does not take place until the fourth century but the novel says that until Nicea Jesus was viewed as a mortal man.
What was the conclusion at Nicea?
Their conclusion was that Jesus was of the same essence and nature as God.
Here is a quote from the Nicene Creed, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father.
The conclusion of the delegates matched the three previous centuries of Christian thought from the Apostles to church Fathers like Ignatius, Polycarp, and Clement of Rome.
One more tidbit.
Professor Teabing also stated in the novel that the vote on the deity of Christ passed by a relatively close vote.
I am sure that there is someone somewhere who believes that 313 to 5 is close.
By the way, that is a higher percentage vote than the vote calling me here by 1.4 percent.
Anyone who blindly accepts the history portrayed in The Da Vinci Code is unfortunately being duped.
This morning as we see Jesus as the Eternal God as viewed by the early church and her apostles, I pray that we will have the confidence to face each day knowing that the one who died for us and who lives in us is God Almighty.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Easter, April 4 -- A Living Hope -- 1 Peter 1:3-9
Because of our Easter Programs, I do not get to preach on Easter Sunday Morning so I preached on Wednesday Night instead. Here is the text of that message.
Most of us have probably seen those “Back to the Future” movies with Michael J. Fox. One of the consistent themes in all three of the movies is that the main character, Marty McFly, has to go back in time to correct a wrong and in so doing, changes the future in which he lives. In the first movie, he goes back in time and accidentally prevents his mom and dad from meeting which of course would end his very existence. So, he spends the entire movie trying to make sure that his mother and father meet to insure his survival.
We see from that, that the future depends very much on the past.
Peter was writing to a group of scattered Christians who had been displaced because of their faith.
He refers to them as aliens and those scattered in the first verse indicating that they were persecuted for their faith and subsequently forced to move.
Often times, faith in Christ was not an easy life for those who became followers of Christ.
There was tribulation and persecution that even led to death.
Yet, the early church endured and continued and even thrived.
As a matter of fact, we are the result of their perseverance.
Because of their past faithfulness, we are their future as the faith has been handed down for these two thousand years.
Yet, as we look at this text, we can see that Peter is dealing with a past that would actually enable these believers to face the reality of their present in spite of the persecution.
But it was more than a past; it was the past that would relate to their future.
It is in this relating the past to the future that we find our hope as well.
What is it that gives us our strength as we deal with the struggles and difficulties of life?
It is the living hope that we have in Jesus Christ.
A relationship with Jesus Christ is essential to have a living hope that brings joy to every area of Life.
As we seek to study this text this morning, I hope that we will see three assurances that will give us strength to face the challenges of life.
The first assurance that we see is the power of the past.
We see in verse three that Peter is offering praise to God.
His praise is for God’s past action in the lives of these persecuted believers.
He had shown them mercy that poured from His abundance and gave them a new birth.
But, this being born again did more than just open their eyes to see the kingdom of God.
The new birth gave to them a living hope.
It does the same for us.
This is the key to this text.
When we receive Christ as our savior, we receive the hope that God pinned on the cross and secured through the resurrection.
Note the end of verse 3. [Read]
Jesus conquered death and it is in that power that our hope, our living hope is secured.
Because Jesus is alive, so is the hope that we have in him.
When we read about hope in the New Testament, we see that it means that we have an assured expectation.
Because of What God has done for us in the past, we have an assurance for the future.
Hope is not vague uncertainty; hope is assurance.
So the power of the past leads us to see the second assurance in the text which is the promise of the future
The past action that you have received Jesus Christ and trusted Him comes with a promise for your future.
That promise is an inheritance.
Look at v 4
As we look at the words that Peter uses to describe the inheritance that we have, one thing we see for sure.
It is permanent.
The first of these is imperishable.
This means that it is not subject to decay.
It cannot deteriorate over time.
My wife is convinced that turkey starts going bad the second it comes out of the oven. We can eat some of the leftovers the day after thanksgiving and then a sandwich from the turkey on Saturday. But, come Sunday, that bird has perished and we won’t get anymore of it.
The inheritance is imperishable and undefiled.
It is perfect.
There are no estate taxes, no clouded titles, and there is nothing to mar its beauty.
It is unfading.
Think about those spring flowers that will be coming up and blooming in a month or so.
Think about what they look like in the middle of the summer when the color has either washed out or the petals have come off to be replaced by seedpods.
The beauty of God’s inheritance for us never fades.
That is explained in the next part that tells us that it is reserved in heaven for us.
In John 14, Jesus says, “In my father’s house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you. I go and prepare a place for you.”
Our inheritance is prepared by Jesus.
He secured it for us in the resurrection from the dead.
He went to heaven to prepare it for us and now, He is keeping it reserved for us.
Our inheritance is Christ purchased, Christ produced, and Christ protected.
And, He does it all for us.
We have seen the power of the past and the promise of the future but we are missing one key section here.
That of course is the present.
That living hope which promised that inheritance has to bear itself out in our daily live.
It has to be relevant.
So, the power of the past and the promise of the future give us the protection of the present.
Look how we who receive God’s inheritance are described in verse 5. [Read]
We have to consider what it is to be protected or guarded.
We know that it does not mean that we are immune from struggles.
We see in this very text that these believers were distressed by various trials or manifold temptations.
They struggled.
They were not immune from it and neither are we.
But, we have the power of God to protect us.
Not to get us around it, but to get us through it.
We look to the past and we see a savior that conquered death by rising from the dead and that gives us hope.
We look to the future and we see a place prepared for us in Glory and that gives us hope.
We look to the present and we see that God is taking us through the struggles of life and that gives us hope.
Listen to Romans 5:
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
That living hope that was given in the past and promises the future, sustains us in the present.
Not only does it sustain us, it works to prove our faith.
In verse 7 we see that. [Read]
Gold tried by fire is perishable but the living hope tried by life is not and Jesus will receive His praise and honor when we see Him.
And, by proving our faith it magnifies our faith.
Verse 8 tells us that even though we do not see Him and have not seen Him, we love Him and believe in Him.
He is there never leaving nor forsaking us as we go through the trials of life.
As these believers were struggling with persecution, Peter was not encouraging them to feel sorry for themselves; he was telling them to rejoice.
V6, v8
Rejoice in the living hope that Jesus provided as you received Him.
Rejoice in the living hope that promises you an inheritance with God.
Rejoice in the living hope that gives you strength and peace to face life and all of its struggles head on.
This is the present for which we live and it is the present that prepares us for the future in eternity with Christ.
The tourist watched as the logger separated logs in river. Some he let go downstream and some he kept in the culling pond. The vacationer asked the logger what was wrong with the logs he was holding. He said nothing. The ones I send downstream are the valley trees which have been protected from storms and severe weather. Their grain is coarse so I send them down to be sawed into standard boards. The ones I keep up here are from the mountaintop. They have been blown by strong storm winds from the time they were saplings and because of that they are harder and have finer beautiful grain. We keep them out for the finer detailed work rather than to be made into plain boards.
The storms we face now are simply preparing us for the Lord’s fine work.That fine work will be made manifest as we receive the inheritance promised by His living Hope.
Most of us have probably seen those “Back to the Future” movies with Michael J. Fox. One of the consistent themes in all three of the movies is that the main character, Marty McFly, has to go back in time to correct a wrong and in so doing, changes the future in which he lives. In the first movie, he goes back in time and accidentally prevents his mom and dad from meeting which of course would end his very existence. So, he spends the entire movie trying to make sure that his mother and father meet to insure his survival.
We see from that, that the future depends very much on the past.
Peter was writing to a group of scattered Christians who had been displaced because of their faith.
He refers to them as aliens and those scattered in the first verse indicating that they were persecuted for their faith and subsequently forced to move.
Often times, faith in Christ was not an easy life for those who became followers of Christ.
There was tribulation and persecution that even led to death.
Yet, the early church endured and continued and even thrived.
As a matter of fact, we are the result of their perseverance.
Because of their past faithfulness, we are their future as the faith has been handed down for these two thousand years.
Yet, as we look at this text, we can see that Peter is dealing with a past that would actually enable these believers to face the reality of their present in spite of the persecution.
But it was more than a past; it was the past that would relate to their future.
It is in this relating the past to the future that we find our hope as well.
What is it that gives us our strength as we deal with the struggles and difficulties of life?
It is the living hope that we have in Jesus Christ.
A relationship with Jesus Christ is essential to have a living hope that brings joy to every area of Life.
As we seek to study this text this morning, I hope that we will see three assurances that will give us strength to face the challenges of life.
The first assurance that we see is the power of the past.
We see in verse three that Peter is offering praise to God.
His praise is for God’s past action in the lives of these persecuted believers.
He had shown them mercy that poured from His abundance and gave them a new birth.
But, this being born again did more than just open their eyes to see the kingdom of God.
The new birth gave to them a living hope.
It does the same for us.
This is the key to this text.
When we receive Christ as our savior, we receive the hope that God pinned on the cross and secured through the resurrection.
Note the end of verse 3. [Read]
Jesus conquered death and it is in that power that our hope, our living hope is secured.
Because Jesus is alive, so is the hope that we have in him.
When we read about hope in the New Testament, we see that it means that we have an assured expectation.
Because of What God has done for us in the past, we have an assurance for the future.
Hope is not vague uncertainty; hope is assurance.
So the power of the past leads us to see the second assurance in the text which is the promise of the future
The past action that you have received Jesus Christ and trusted Him comes with a promise for your future.
That promise is an inheritance.
Look at v 4
As we look at the words that Peter uses to describe the inheritance that we have, one thing we see for sure.
It is permanent.
The first of these is imperishable.
This means that it is not subject to decay.
It cannot deteriorate over time.
My wife is convinced that turkey starts going bad the second it comes out of the oven. We can eat some of the leftovers the day after thanksgiving and then a sandwich from the turkey on Saturday. But, come Sunday, that bird has perished and we won’t get anymore of it.
The inheritance is imperishable and undefiled.
It is perfect.
There are no estate taxes, no clouded titles, and there is nothing to mar its beauty.
It is unfading.
Think about those spring flowers that will be coming up and blooming in a month or so.
Think about what they look like in the middle of the summer when the color has either washed out or the petals have come off to be replaced by seedpods.
The beauty of God’s inheritance for us never fades.
That is explained in the next part that tells us that it is reserved in heaven for us.
In John 14, Jesus says, “In my father’s house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you. I go and prepare a place for you.”
Our inheritance is prepared by Jesus.
He secured it for us in the resurrection from the dead.
He went to heaven to prepare it for us and now, He is keeping it reserved for us.
Our inheritance is Christ purchased, Christ produced, and Christ protected.
And, He does it all for us.
We have seen the power of the past and the promise of the future but we are missing one key section here.
That of course is the present.
That living hope which promised that inheritance has to bear itself out in our daily live.
It has to be relevant.
So, the power of the past and the promise of the future give us the protection of the present.
Look how we who receive God’s inheritance are described in verse 5. [Read]
We have to consider what it is to be protected or guarded.
We know that it does not mean that we are immune from struggles.
We see in this very text that these believers were distressed by various trials or manifold temptations.
They struggled.
They were not immune from it and neither are we.
But, we have the power of God to protect us.
Not to get us around it, but to get us through it.
We look to the past and we see a savior that conquered death by rising from the dead and that gives us hope.
We look to the future and we see a place prepared for us in Glory and that gives us hope.
We look to the present and we see that God is taking us through the struggles of life and that gives us hope.
Listen to Romans 5:
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
That living hope that was given in the past and promises the future, sustains us in the present.
Not only does it sustain us, it works to prove our faith.
In verse 7 we see that. [Read]
Gold tried by fire is perishable but the living hope tried by life is not and Jesus will receive His praise and honor when we see Him.
And, by proving our faith it magnifies our faith.
Verse 8 tells us that even though we do not see Him and have not seen Him, we love Him and believe in Him.
He is there never leaving nor forsaking us as we go through the trials of life.
As these believers were struggling with persecution, Peter was not encouraging them to feel sorry for themselves; he was telling them to rejoice.
V6, v8
Rejoice in the living hope that Jesus provided as you received Him.
Rejoice in the living hope that promises you an inheritance with God.
Rejoice in the living hope that gives you strength and peace to face life and all of its struggles head on.
This is the present for which we live and it is the present that prepares us for the future in eternity with Christ.
The tourist watched as the logger separated logs in river. Some he let go downstream and some he kept in the culling pond. The vacationer asked the logger what was wrong with the logs he was holding. He said nothing. The ones I send downstream are the valley trees which have been protected from storms and severe weather. Their grain is coarse so I send them down to be sawed into standard boards. The ones I keep up here are from the mountaintop. They have been blown by strong storm winds from the time they were saplings and because of that they are harder and have finer beautiful grain. We keep them out for the finer detailed work rather than to be made into plain boards.
The storms we face now are simply preparing us for the Lord’s fine work.That fine work will be made manifest as we receive the inheritance promised by His living Hope.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Palm Sunday -- The Crushing of Christ -- Isaiah 53:4-12
To listen to this message click here I am sorry about the hummmmmmmmmmm. The issue is with the sound system. I will seek to straighten it out.
To download this message, right click here and select save target as
Introduction
Process of the purpose of God in Jesus Ministry through Luke: 1:31-33; 2:52; 3:21; 9:51; 19:28; 23:39-45; 24:46
We see even in the life of Jesus, that God was working through a redemptive process.
Describing the Biblical Text
The text that we are seeing this morning is a very important component of that process as we look specifically at the sufferings of Jesus Christ.
As a matter of fact, this is a very difficult text and some of us will leave here this morning thinking to ourselves, that just cannot be right.
Isaiah is prophetically speaking of the death of Jesus.
It would be the implication of that death that we see as benefit but as we see the sovereign purpose of God unfold, we might be stunned to see the truth that is in this passage.
Narrate the Contextual application
As we look at this text, Isaiah the prophet is describing someone who is suffering.
This is called the suffering servant passage in Isaiah.
The reason for that is apparent.
As we read this text we see suffering don’t we?
What strikes me about this text is that it was read by an instructor in a Hassidic Jewish school and one of the students went home and complained to his parents that the teachers were reading the Christian Bible in class.
But, the context of this passage is that very thing.
It is the suffering of Jesus Christ.
It is the value of that suffering in the life of everyone who is a servant of God and follower of Jesus Christ.
Life Application (thesis)
In verse 5 of this passage, we see the following phrase: the chastening of our well being or our peace was upon Him.
We could not and would not have peace with God if Jesus were not chastised on our behalf.
Hence, our peace with God comes from Jesus’ death on the cross.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
As we look at this text on this Palm Sunday, we will grasp three certainties that will give us insight in the death of Jesus and the peace that comes to us from His crucifixion.
The first certainty is this.
The cross was a cruel means of punishment and death.
As we explore that idea I wan to read you an article that was written by John Macarthur, pastor of Grace community Church in California.
Cause of death: Death normally came from slow suffocation. The victim's body would hang in such a way that the diaphragm was severely constricted. In order to exhale, he would have to push up with the feet so that the diaphragm would have room to move. Ultimately fatigue, intense pain, or muscle atrophy would render the victim unable to do this, and he would finally die from the lack of oxygen. Dr. Truman Davis, a medical doctor who studied the physical effects of crucifixion, described how this would have occurred in Jesus' crucifixion: As the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by His arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostal muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically He is able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen . . . Hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from His lacerated back as He moves up and down against the rough timber; then another agony begins. A deep crushing pain in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart . . . now almost over—the loss of tissue fluid has reached a critical level—the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick sluggish blood into the tissues—the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues send their flood of stimuli to the brain. ["The Crucifixion of Jesus: The Passion of Christ from a Medical Point of View," Arizona Medicine, vol. 22, no. 3 (March 1965), pp. 183-87.]
A surface reading of this text shows us that very idea doesn’t it?
Listen to some of the words that Isaiah used to convey the suffering of the Lord’s servant Christ: Smitten, pierced, crushed, chastened, scourging, oppressed, afflicted, slaughter, shearers, and cut off.
There is absolutely nothing is there that sounds as though it could in any way be a pleasing pr a pleasant experience.
When we think about the price that Jesus paid for us, we need to remember how cruel and harsh his death for us was on that cross.
We cannot let 2000 years of history, a soft and sedentary culture, and the iconic cross as a piece of jewelry stand between us and the death of Jesus in all its harshness and its cruelty.
Our second certainly should be that which strikes home for us in light of the cruel reality of the death of Jesus.
The cross was where Jesus took our place.
When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, I always like to read from 1 Corinthians 11 because of the poignancy of the description of Jesus’ words there.
This is my body which is broken for you.
The breaking of the bread reminds us of the breaking of the flesh of Jesus.
How often have we viewed the crucifixion of Jesus as an event that was removed from us by thousands of years of history?
We need to see it as an event in which we were directly participating.
The breaking of the body of Christ was the punishment of God being meted out against our sin.
As we look at this text we see so many things that point to Jesus being our substitute on the cross.
He bore our griefs; He carried our sorrows; He was pierced for our transgressions; He was chastised for our peace; The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all; rendering Himself as a guilt offering; He will justify the many bearing their iniquities.
How many different ways can it be said that Jesus received the punishment that we deserved on the cross.
This is why the Bible says that he wages of sin is death.
For the follower of Jesus Christ it is not his death but rather the death of Jesus that paid that ultimate price.
This is why we must know that the death of Jesus on the cross was a payment that we could never make and still live.
It would not only kill us physically, but we would also die eternally since the punishment for our sin is also spiritual death.
I hope that the cross is real to you this morning.
I hope that you see it as the only moment in history that gives any of us any hope.
The cruel cross where Jesus took our place should pull us to it in our desire to serve God.
If that is your desire this morning, to know the forgiveness and the love that comes from a relationship with Christ, you can pray to receive Christ right now.
All heads bowed and all eyes closed.
Dear Lord, I know that my sins are hurtful to you and that you sent Jesus to take my place and receive my punishment. Now I want to receive Jesus and make him the Lord of my life. Thank you Lord for the cross and the salvation it brings, Amen
Now, there is a third certainty that we must see in this text and it is very important.
The cross, where Jesus was crushed was pleasing to God.
Could you imagine sending your child to die and not even for anything that he had done and then being pleased by it?
This really puts us in a difficult place because we know that God hates sin.
God hates sin so much that he condemns the sinner to eternal torment and separation from Him.
Sin is a very affront to the holy nature of God.
What do we see about Jesus?
He who knew no sin became sin.
In this text, Jesus bore our iniquities.
He became the very thing that God hated and God turned his back on Jesus.
Jesus cried out from the cross, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me.
And God crushed his Son on the cross.
In verse 10 we see that God was pleased to crush him.
How could that be?
How could God be pleased to crush His Son?
He could be pleased to crush his son because it accomplished His purpose in redemption for us.
Crushing His son accomplished salvation according to the eternal plan of God.
We cannot grasp how something so heinous could be so pleasing to God except to say that in the working of all things for good to those who love God, this worked to our good.
Peter’s description in Acts 2 is great: this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
Here we have both the sovereign plan of God and the sinfulness of man serving to accomplish God’s plan for His eternal glory.
The human mind has such a tough time comprehending that.
That is often why we hear preachers say things like God does not cause anything bad to happen to you, He only allows it and then uses it for his glory.
Well Peter said that Jesus was delivered by God’s plan by sinful men.
Are we going to say that God did not cause the cross?
No, God was pleased to crush His son that you might have a place in the eternal plan of God also.
The cross was a terrible place of punishment and death for Jesus but it was purposed by God.
Jesus took our punishment on the cross to accomplish God’s salvation.
This pleased God and accomplished His will for you.
As we ponder the cross this week, let’s remember the cruel death Jesus suffered in order to bring us to God.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him.
It is that peace with God that I pray we all know this Easter season.
To download this message, right click here and select save target as
Introduction
Process of the purpose of God in Jesus Ministry through Luke: 1:31-33; 2:52; 3:21; 9:51; 19:28; 23:39-45; 24:46
We see even in the life of Jesus, that God was working through a redemptive process.
Describing the Biblical Text
The text that we are seeing this morning is a very important component of that process as we look specifically at the sufferings of Jesus Christ.
As a matter of fact, this is a very difficult text and some of us will leave here this morning thinking to ourselves, that just cannot be right.
Isaiah is prophetically speaking of the death of Jesus.
It would be the implication of that death that we see as benefit but as we see the sovereign purpose of God unfold, we might be stunned to see the truth that is in this passage.
Narrate the Contextual application
As we look at this text, Isaiah the prophet is describing someone who is suffering.
This is called the suffering servant passage in Isaiah.
The reason for that is apparent.
As we read this text we see suffering don’t we?
What strikes me about this text is that it was read by an instructor in a Hassidic Jewish school and one of the students went home and complained to his parents that the teachers were reading the Christian Bible in class.
But, the context of this passage is that very thing.
It is the suffering of Jesus Christ.
It is the value of that suffering in the life of everyone who is a servant of God and follower of Jesus Christ.
Life Application (thesis)
In verse 5 of this passage, we see the following phrase: the chastening of our well being or our peace was upon Him.
We could not and would not have peace with God if Jesus were not chastised on our behalf.
Hence, our peace with God comes from Jesus’ death on the cross.
SO WHAT!! (Outline)
As we look at this text on this Palm Sunday, we will grasp three certainties that will give us insight in the death of Jesus and the peace that comes to us from His crucifixion.
The first certainty is this.
The cross was a cruel means of punishment and death.
As we explore that idea I wan to read you an article that was written by John Macarthur, pastor of Grace community Church in California.
Cause of death: Death normally came from slow suffocation. The victim's body would hang in such a way that the diaphragm was severely constricted. In order to exhale, he would have to push up with the feet so that the diaphragm would have room to move. Ultimately fatigue, intense pain, or muscle atrophy would render the victim unable to do this, and he would finally die from the lack of oxygen. Dr. Truman Davis, a medical doctor who studied the physical effects of crucifixion, described how this would have occurred in Jesus' crucifixion: As the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by His arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostal muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically He is able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen . . . Hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-rending cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn from His lacerated back as He moves up and down against the rough timber; then another agony begins. A deep crushing pain in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart . . . now almost over—the loss of tissue fluid has reached a critical level—the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick sluggish blood into the tissues—the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air. The markedly dehydrated tissues send their flood of stimuli to the brain. ["The Crucifixion of Jesus: The Passion of Christ from a Medical Point of View," Arizona Medicine, vol. 22, no. 3 (March 1965), pp. 183-87.]
A surface reading of this text shows us that very idea doesn’t it?
Listen to some of the words that Isaiah used to convey the suffering of the Lord’s servant Christ: Smitten, pierced, crushed, chastened, scourging, oppressed, afflicted, slaughter, shearers, and cut off.
There is absolutely nothing is there that sounds as though it could in any way be a pleasing pr a pleasant experience.
When we think about the price that Jesus paid for us, we need to remember how cruel and harsh his death for us was on that cross.
We cannot let 2000 years of history, a soft and sedentary culture, and the iconic cross as a piece of jewelry stand between us and the death of Jesus in all its harshness and its cruelty.
Our second certainly should be that which strikes home for us in light of the cruel reality of the death of Jesus.
The cross was where Jesus took our place.
When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, I always like to read from 1 Corinthians 11 because of the poignancy of the description of Jesus’ words there.
This is my body which is broken for you.
The breaking of the bread reminds us of the breaking of the flesh of Jesus.
How often have we viewed the crucifixion of Jesus as an event that was removed from us by thousands of years of history?
We need to see it as an event in which we were directly participating.
The breaking of the body of Christ was the punishment of God being meted out against our sin.
As we look at this text we see so many things that point to Jesus being our substitute on the cross.
He bore our griefs; He carried our sorrows; He was pierced for our transgressions; He was chastised for our peace; The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all; rendering Himself as a guilt offering; He will justify the many bearing their iniquities.
How many different ways can it be said that Jesus received the punishment that we deserved on the cross.
This is why the Bible says that he wages of sin is death.
For the follower of Jesus Christ it is not his death but rather the death of Jesus that paid that ultimate price.
This is why we must know that the death of Jesus on the cross was a payment that we could never make and still live.
It would not only kill us physically, but we would also die eternally since the punishment for our sin is also spiritual death.
I hope that the cross is real to you this morning.
I hope that you see it as the only moment in history that gives any of us any hope.
The cruel cross where Jesus took our place should pull us to it in our desire to serve God.
If that is your desire this morning, to know the forgiveness and the love that comes from a relationship with Christ, you can pray to receive Christ right now.
All heads bowed and all eyes closed.
Dear Lord, I know that my sins are hurtful to you and that you sent Jesus to take my place and receive my punishment. Now I want to receive Jesus and make him the Lord of my life. Thank you Lord for the cross and the salvation it brings, Amen
Now, there is a third certainty that we must see in this text and it is very important.
The cross, where Jesus was crushed was pleasing to God.
Could you imagine sending your child to die and not even for anything that he had done and then being pleased by it?
This really puts us in a difficult place because we know that God hates sin.
God hates sin so much that he condemns the sinner to eternal torment and separation from Him.
Sin is a very affront to the holy nature of God.
What do we see about Jesus?
He who knew no sin became sin.
In this text, Jesus bore our iniquities.
He became the very thing that God hated and God turned his back on Jesus.
Jesus cried out from the cross, “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me.
And God crushed his Son on the cross.
In verse 10 we see that God was pleased to crush him.
How could that be?
How could God be pleased to crush His Son?
He could be pleased to crush his son because it accomplished His purpose in redemption for us.
Crushing His son accomplished salvation according to the eternal plan of God.
We cannot grasp how something so heinous could be so pleasing to God except to say that in the working of all things for good to those who love God, this worked to our good.
Peter’s description in Acts 2 is great: this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
Here we have both the sovereign plan of God and the sinfulness of man serving to accomplish God’s plan for His eternal glory.
The human mind has such a tough time comprehending that.
That is often why we hear preachers say things like God does not cause anything bad to happen to you, He only allows it and then uses it for his glory.
Well Peter said that Jesus was delivered by God’s plan by sinful men.
Are we going to say that God did not cause the cross?
No, God was pleased to crush His son that you might have a place in the eternal plan of God also.
The cross was a terrible place of punishment and death for Jesus but it was purposed by God.
Jesus took our punishment on the cross to accomplish God’s salvation.
This pleased God and accomplished His will for you.
As we ponder the cross this week, let’s remember the cruel death Jesus suffered in order to bring us to God.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him.
It is that peace with God that I pray we all know this Easter season.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)