Resurrection Sunday Message

Resurrection Sunday Message
By internet Pastor, Pastor William Mazzulla III

Though I am writing this for resurrection Sunday, it is a good message of hope for all at any and every time of the year.

Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: John 11:25

Martha in that discussion said of her dead brother Lazarus; "Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days."

Martha thought Jesus was talking of someday but Jesus was a God of the now and still is the God of the now to meet our needs. Graves were often in caves, natural or carved out and blocked with a large stone, a boulder. So when Jesus told them to remove the stone she protested that by now Lazarus would smell bad . "He stinketh" the King James says.

A spiritual application would be that there are churches with false doctrine and just as dangerous compromising Pastors with compromising members and God would say fo those churches that they "stinketh"!

That is another whole message so let us get back to the literal meaning of this Bible incident.

Once they removed the stone Jesus prayed out loud to His Heavenly Father so that there would be no doubt as to why Lazarus came alive. Then Jesus just said 3 simple powerful words; "Lazarus, Come forth". Poor Lazarus bound up like an Egyptian mummy. He must have been hopping awkwardly, while struggling to breathe through his grave clothes in order to try to obey Jesus after death lost it's grip on his body.

And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. John 11:44

Sometimes when God does a miracle He often leaves a part for us to do.

Jesus did many healings, miracles including raising the dead back to life. The greatest miracle is Jesus Christ's resurrection. Jesus was beaten for our healing (Isaiah 53, 1 Peter 2:24), suffered judgment oif God in our place dying for our sins and on the third day arose from the dead. This resurrection is proof that Jesus is God in the flesh (John 1:14, 1 Timothy 3:16)

As proof that He was the son of God, Jesus allowed others to worship Him. Often when they were healed or set free from demons, the person set free would worship Jesus. The final proof of Jesus being God was when he arose from the grave after 3 days.

As if that was not enough the resurrected Jesus Christ in the immediate days following the resurrection allowed others to worship Him. One time that stands out is when Thomas doubted and when Our Lord Jesus Christ appeared To Thomas, knowing Thomas's previous words was told by Jesus to put his hands in Jesus side and to feel the holes from the nails of the Cross. At that point Thomas worshiped Jesus as God and said my Lord and my God.

Jesus accepted Thomas's worship as He, Jesus, accepts your worship and my worship today and on into eternity.

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. John 20:29

So this blessed time of year or whenever you read this begin to believe in Jesus. If you already have a personal alive relationship with the living God, Jesus Christ, then pray to Him about the Holy Spirit increasing your faith so that you will believe even more!

Amen!

Resurrection Sunday Message.
by internet pastor,
Pastor William Mazzulla III
aka Pastor Bill

Pastor of:
OLBC - Online Bible Church
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OLBC/

Founder of:
Ezekiel 37 Bible Watch Ministries
http://ezekiel37biblewatch.faithweb.com/
E37BW Ministries And Friends (webring)
http://www.webring.com/t/E37BW-Ministries-And-Friends
Bargains Market & Affiliates
http://www.geocities.com/bargainsmarket/index.htm

Part 1 Mark 4:35-41 - In the Boat, Out of the Boat, and a Ghost!

This message I verbally preached both parts as one sermon, I titled:
In the Boat, Out of the Boat, and a Ghost!

Then I did it as a Bible study via Yahoo Instant Messaging (YIM) for GPS Ministry (India).
Both times the sermon/study came out different so the one I post here will be the notes from the 2-part Yahoo Bible Study but not exactly the same as when I teach by chat because there might be questions and comments that go beyond my notes. Part 2 I thought I was also going to post tonight after teaching via yahoo to the staff at GPS Ministry but the staff was on holiday.
Instead I and Bishop Stephen fellowshipped via YIM.
Oh and the Ghost part you will not find out about until Part 2 of this message.

Anyway, enjoy Part 1 of this message.

Part 1 is:
Storms, Winds, Hurricanes and God's Plan

Should we call what we read in the Bible... Bible stories?
Think about it for a moment and I will tell you my answer.

while thinking about it turn to Mark 4:35

Childrens Bedtime stories and fairy tales are make believe stories
but the Bible is more then just stories.

They are Bible history, Bible incidents not just a story
More important, what we read in the Bible is Truth,
the Word of God and the Words of eternal Life.

-----------------------------------

One more thing my favorite translation is the Geneva Bible.
It is the same Bible That the Pilgrims carried over to America on the ship, the Mayflower. My next favorite is the King James Version. Both are more complete then many modern translations.
When in doubt of a meaning in your Bible, if it is a modern translation then look the verse up in the Geneva Bible or the KJV Bible.

Since King James Version is more common then the Geneva Bible, I am using the KJV.


Now onto the main lesson:

Title: Storms, Winds, Hurricanes and God's Plan

First scripture text
Mark 4:35-41

35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them,
Let us pass over unto the other side.
36 And when they had sent away the multitude,
they took him even as he was in the ship.
And there were also with him other little ships.
37 And there arose a great storm of wind,
and the waves beat into the ship,
so that it was now full.
38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow:
and they awake him, and say unto him,
Master, carest thou not that we perish?
39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea,
Peace, be still.
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 And he said unto them,
Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another,
What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?


35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them,
Let us pass over unto the other side.

36 And when they had sent away the multitude,
they took him even as he was in the ship.
And there were also with him other little ships.

Earlier in the day Jesus healed the sick cast out demons and taught the Word of God.
Many were following Jesus... some for the excitement of what they might have looked at as a show. But many did follow JESUS for the right reasons because of his teaching which is a good start. Most importantly we should follow Jesus and obey his teachings because He loved us to go to the Cross and even now is at the rioght hand of our Heaven Father praying for us.

37 And there arose a great storm of wind,
and the waves beat into the ship,
so that it was now full.

(Seismos = Greek word for earthquake, hurricane)
Earthquakes cause tides to rise suddenly like in a Tsunami except in this case the water was not pulling back again. Not until a certain thing happened.

Some scholars believe that this storm was so intense that it was from Satan trying to stop and kill Jesus. I think that is correct because the devil is the ruler over the powers of the air.
Of course we know that Lucifer could never stop Jesus.
Neither can the devil stop you
when you have Jesus in your life,
and are filled with God's Holy Spirit
and you are quick to repent of sin
and you are walking in obedience to God's Word.

38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow:
and they awake him, and say unto him,
Master, carest thou not that we perish?

The disciples are fishermen and would have storms once in a while especially
since the storms do come up quickly in that area.
This storm seems to be like something they have never seen before.
By the time we get to the end of this Bible event
we will see that the disciples still did not yet realize who Jesus was.
So when they woke Jesus up this what they were actually implying:
"Jesus how come you are sleeping and not helping us bail out water.
Don't you care if we all drown?"

39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea,
Peace, be still.

Jesus was telling the winds, the storm the waves "Peace be still, calm down, stop it"

Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
Normally even if it a wind and storm calms down then it will take some time for the seas and waves to calm down.
But at the command of Jesus all was calm and still!

40 And he said unto them,
Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

In the Greek he is using the same expression as Paul writing in one of his letters to Timothy where Timothy was told and we are told "not to have a Spirit of fear"
In fact the Greek for afraid is actually coward so Jesus was asking
"Why be such coward? Where is your faith"

May God grant us all faith in the hard times of our lifes.
Especially when we feel like we are in stormas and waves and winds are almost sinking us.
Even if it seems like Jesus is sleeping....
remember Jesus is in the boat with you and HE will make sure you get where He wants you.
Continue to have faith in God.

41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another,
What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

They were more terrified now.
They did not expect that and almost could not believe what they just saw and experienced.

They began to realize that Jesus is more then just another Rabbi, more then just another godly teacher. Only God can do what Jesus just did... could it be?
Could being in Jesus presence actually be the presence of God.
Not knowing that Jesus is God in the flesh and not yet understanding....
caused them to be terrified and asked each other yet none were at this time ready to acknowledge Jesus as God and Messiah.



Come back for:
Part 2 :
A Second Storm - Another Faith Test
Probably it will be posted in a week or two.
It will be after I do this as a study with my friends in India.

Sincerely,
internet Pastor Bill Mazzulla III

PS Do not forget to visit Bishop Stephen's website of minsitry in India
GPS (GOSPEL TO THE PERISHING SOULS) MINISTRY.