Peace and grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The whole Matthew 28 refers to Shekinah Glory.
There is a light of glory (Shekinah Glory), namely Jesus’ resurrection, behind the death experience.
Matthew 28:1-10 is about Jesus’ resurrection.
Matthew 28:1-2
28:1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
28:2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stonefrom the door, and sat on it.
The stone is rolled back by the angel, meaning the light of glory shines the hard heart until there is life renewal from the hard flesh man to spiritual one who is perfect as the angel or Jesus is.
Being hard-hearted and keeping the rottenness of sins, one keeps on being flesh-blood man who will perish forever.
What must be renewed?
The theme of our devotion tonight is The New Man Has NO Fear Anymore.
Luke 1:30
1:30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
For example, Mary must be pregnant without a husband. It must be a great fear for a virgin. Such a fear refers to the fear of youth.
Luke 2:8-9
2:8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
2:9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
The fear also happens to the shepherds or parents.
Thus, the fear happens to human since the childhood, teens, adulthood, up to old age.
Moreover, we must heed that the fear also happens to the shepherds or the servants of God.
Luke 21:25-26
21:25 "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;
21:26 "men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken."
The fear happens to all nations or countries in the world, not only to poor countries but also to the developing countries and developed ones.
In addition, the fear causes bodily death through distress, diseases, et cetera.
Revelation 21:8
21:8 "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
The fear not only physically kills human but also brings spiritual death, namely the second death or the eternal one in hell.
The fear is same as the death working to kill human but Jesus is born in the world (Christmas) to remove all fears.
There are three kinds of the fear as follows.
God blesses you.
The whole Matthew 28 refers to Shekinah Glory.
There is a light of glory (Shekinah Glory), namely Jesus’ resurrection, behind the death experience.
Matthew 28:1-10 is about Jesus’ resurrection.
Matthew 28:1-2
28:1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
28:2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stonefrom the door, and sat on it.
The stone is rolled back by the angel, meaning the light of glory shines the hard heart until there is life renewal from the hard flesh man to spiritual one who is perfect as the angel or Jesus is.
Being hard-hearted and keeping the rottenness of sins, one keeps on being flesh-blood man who will perish forever.
What must be renewed?
- Matthew 28:3 – The renewal of countenance that is as the lightning, namely the renewal of the five senses to result in bright face.
- Matthew 28:3 – The renewal of the clothing that is as white as snow. It means the renewal of our deeds.
- Matthew 28:4-5– The new man has no fear anymore.
The theme of our devotion tonight is The New Man Has NO Fear Anymore.
Luke 1:30
1:30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
For example, Mary must be pregnant without a husband. It must be a great fear for a virgin. Such a fear refers to the fear of youth.
Luke 2:8-9
2:8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.
2:9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.
The fear also happens to the shepherds or parents.
Thus, the fear happens to human since the childhood, teens, adulthood, up to old age.
Moreover, we must heed that the fear also happens to the shepherds or the servants of God.
Luke 21:25-26
21:25 "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;
21:26 "men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken."
The fear happens to all nations or countries in the world, not only to poor countries but also to the developing countries and developed ones.
In addition, the fear causes bodily death through distress, diseases, et cetera.
Revelation 21:8
21:8 "But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
The fear not only physically kills human but also brings spiritual death, namely the second death or the eternal one in hell.
The fear is same as the death working to kill human but Jesus is born in the world (Christmas) to remove all fears.
There are three kinds of the fear as follows.
- The fear that happens at Garden Eden because Adam and Eve sin.
Genesis 3:9-10
3:9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"
3:10 So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."
Thus, human can be afraid although being in Garden Eden, where all things are provided. So we can conclude that all riches and intelligence cannot guarantee whether we can live in quietness or not. The fear is determined by whether there is sin or not.
Romans 3:23
3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Actually, all have sinned and been naked in the threat of the death since Adam and Eve sin and they are cast into the world. All people are in fear, distress, heavy burden, and weariness continuing until they reach forever perdition.
All things in the world such as intelligence, riches, good position, and success cannot save the sinners. Moreover, there is none in the world can finish the sin. All men have sinned, so they cannot save themselves.
The solution is in the Christmas.
Jesus is born as the only human who does not sin. He must die on the cross to finish the sin of human with His holy blood as He has no sin.
As for us, we who are in fear, distress, heavy burden, and weariness now must learn to Jesus upon the cross.
Matthew 11:28-30
11:28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
11:29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
11:30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
We learn to become lowly in heart and gentle as follows.- Being lowly in heart means there is ability to confess sins to God and other people. After being forgiven, we should not do the sin anymore.
Sinning and then blaming other people, one adds his life with the heavy burden.
It is hard to confess our sins, whether from the inferior to the superior and moreover from the superior to the inferior, but we have to do that. - Being gentle means there is ability to forgive the sins of other people and forget them.
The righteousness comes together with the peace and quietness. Meaning we will experience the peace and quietness if we finish our sins and live in righteousness.
Proverbs 12:26
12:26 The righteous should choose his friends carefully, For the way of the wicked leads them astray.
Moreover, if we have been righteous and quiet, we must go to the righteous shepherding.
We are shepherded to the true teaching Word as a branch that dwells in the one True Vine.
We persevere in the sheepfold, namely the Holy Place with its three kinds of equipment as follows.- Golden Candlestick or perseverance in doing General Service or the fellowship with Holy Spirit as if we spiritually drink.
- Table of Showbread or perseverance in doing Bible Study Service with Holy Communion or the fellowship with the Son of God in the Word and Holy Communion as if we spiritually eat.
- Golden Altar of Incense or perseverance in doing Prayer Service or the fellowship with Father God in His love as the breath of life.
It is a place to firm our righteousness and quietness.
We must be firm in our being lowly in heart and gentle as well as living in righteousness, being shepherded, and quiet.
The result is as follows.- Our life becomes easy and light whatever condition we face.
- We are blessed by God up to our descendants, even we can become blessings for other people.
Psalm 37:25
37:25 I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.
- Being lowly in heart means there is ability to confess sins to God and other people. After being forgiven, we should not do the sin anymore.
- The fear because of the wind and wave hitting the sea of the world.
Mark 4:35-40
4:35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."
4:36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him.
4:37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.
4:38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"
4:39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
4:40 But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?"
Our life in the world is as crossing over the sea of the world to go to the harbor of peace, namely the beautiful meeting on glorious clouds or the marriage supper of the Lamb of God when Jesus comes a second time, then we enter the kingdom of peace a thousand years and New Jerusalem or the eternal heavenly kingdom.
What we face is the wind and wave of death blown by Satan. We cannot fight against Satan with our own strength.- The windstorm refers to the wind of false teachingcausing us to fear of holding fast to the true teaching Word even to doubt and leave it.
Be alert! For example, Eutychus sits in a window and falls down because of the wind outside the window, referring to the wind of false teaching.
Do not be afraid! God is with us as long as we hold fast the true teaching Word. - The wave means temptations or impossible problemscausing the sons of God not to believe in His power but to doubt and seek their own ways which are not in line with the true teaching Word.
The solution is we must learn to be silent and quiet as Jesus sleeping in the stern, referring to Jesus who dies on the cross.
He keeps on being silent without any reply when He is crucified and despised.- Being silent means we check our life with the sharp true teaching Word.
We must repentwhen we find sins in our life and we do not do them anymore. - Being quiet means we control ourselves in order not to hope in others but to fully hope in God.
It also means we do not murmur, grumble, or use bad language to other people, especially to our parents, but we only cry and hope in God.
I Peter 4:7
4:7 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.
We can pray and cry the name of Jesus.
Being silent and quiet means we lift up our two hands to God.
The result is as follows.- The sea can be calm, meaning we feel the peace without any fear, heavy burden, or weariness.
The hand of God is able to make the sea calm or to solve all our problems. - Our boat can go forward without sinking. Meaning the hand of God is able to provide us the beautiful future life.
- The windstorm refers to the wind of false teachingcausing us to fear of holding fast to the true teaching Word even to doubt and leave it.
- The fear when seeing the second coming of Jesus.
Revelation 6:15-17
6:15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains,
6:16 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
6:17 "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
Because the earth and all its contents will be condemned by the fire coming from heaven and destroyed at that time.
Why do men fear?
Because they never see God in their lifetime now but become at His back or rebel the true teaching Word.
Therefore, let us always see Jesus’ face from the Christmas Service tonight, before Jesus comes a second time.
Seeing the face of other people, one must be at the back of Jesus.
For example, Esau hunts fleshly things, so he becomes at the back of spiritual things.
Matthew 5:8
5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.
The requirement of seeing Jesus’ face is the holy heart. It means that the whole life is also holy.
Seeing Jesus’ face means worshiping Him.
We are intensively sanctified in the shepherding through the work of the Word which is sharper than any two-edged sword. It begins from our heart that must be sanctified from seven hidden dark sins.
Matthew 15:19
15:19 "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
As a result, the “eye” of our heart is bright to see and worship God. We can give Him all praise and honor, even we can give and entrust our whole life to Him.
If the “eye” of our heart is bright, all our deeds must be bright or holy.
On the contrary, the deeds will be dark or unholy if the “eye” of heart is dark.
Psalm 16:8
16:8 I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
The shepherding is the place to see or worship God as well as to firm our being strong and of good courage.
The three wise men worship Jesus after He is born in the sheepfold.
Psalm 27:14
27:14 Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!
The meaning of being strong and of good courage is as follows.- We keep on holding fast to the one True Teaching Word.
- We do not want to sin, whatever risk may come.
- We are obedient, whatever risk we have to face.
Meaning we keep on being faithful and fervent in spirit in our service and ministry to God, so we can keep on being the stars.
Revelation 1:20
1:20 "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.
The stars are in the hand of God as follows.- We feel saved and comfortable and we are preserved forever.
Psalm 16:11
16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
We are firmer in the shepherding and God more tightly holds our life in His hand. - The right hand of God gives us victoryover all enemies and temptations.
Psalm 118:15-16
118:15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation Is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly.
118:16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted; The right hand of the LORD does valiantly. - Verse 16: The right hand of God is able to exalt us and make all things successful and beautiful in its time.
Being exalted means we are continually sanctified until we are perfect and exalted on the glorious clouds to welcome Jesus’ coming and enter the Future Paradise or the kingdom of peace a thousand years and the eternal heavenly kingdom. We can see Him face to face without any fear.
- We keep on holding fast to the one True Teaching Word.
God blesses you.