The Cross

1. The Devil wanted Jesus to Avoid the Cross
The crowd cried for Jesus to come down from the cross.
Matthew 27:40
Matthew 27:42
Mark 15:30
Mark 15:32 "Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!" Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

The Devil and thus the world and world system didn’t want Jesus to go to the cross.
They wanted him to come down.
I believe the human side of Jesus wanted to come down also.
Listen to the heart of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22

Why would the Devil Want Jesus to avoid the Cross?
Colossians 2:13-15
13 And you who were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful carnal nature), [God] brought to life together with [Christ], having [freely] forgiven us all our transgressions,
14Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.
15[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing over them in Him and in it [the cross].

2. Pilate made an Announcement on the Cross
Pilate has a sign made for the cross.
John 19:19-22 19Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."22Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

Why did Pilate stick to his Guns?
•Pilate had revelation knowledge that Jesus was the King of the Jews!
•He didn’t have the courage to release him but he did have a knowing that this man was the King of the Jews.
•Matthew 16:18 Revelation knowledge is the rock that the church is built upon.
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

3. Who's at Fault for the Cross?
•Who’s Responsible for Putting Jesus on the Cross?
–Is the Romans leadership to blame?
–Is the Jewish religious leadership at fault?
–Are the people at fault?
–Is Judas to blame?

All these are natural components that were used to carry out the crucifixion event but the real reason Jesus went to the cross was because he wanted to pay for your sin debt so he could have a relationship with you.

His love desires a relationship and his justice demands payment for sin. The solution is the cross!
He went to the cross because of love.

4. Jesus' Adoration of the Cross
•Jesus Adored the cross because that meant he could have you!
–John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
–Romans 5:7,8 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Hebrews 12:2
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

5. Jesus went to the Cross on his own Accord
•John 10:17-18 17The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."

•Matthew 26:52-54 52"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. 53Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?"

A suffering Messiah
•The most vivid and detailed prediction about the sufferings of the Messiah is the prophecy of Isaiah, which occupies one and a half chapters of his book (the end of the 52nd and all of the 53rd). This prophecy contains such details of the sufferings of Christ, that the reader gets the impression that the prophet Isaiah wrote it at the foot of Golgotha, even though, as we know, the prophet Isaiah lived over seven centuries BC.

The “military might” of One Angel
•2 Kings 19:35 That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!

How many people could 12 legions of Angels handle?
•12 Legions X’s 6000 angels per legion = 72,000 + angels.
•72,000 x 185,000 deaths per Angel = 13,320,000,000 or 13.3 Billion

6. Jesus went to the cross because he had authority from above
•John 19:8-12 8When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9and he went back inside the palace. "Where do you come from?" he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10"Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" 11Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." 12From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar."

•Pilate in an effort to save his own skin passes the buck of responsibility over to the Jewish leaders for the crucifixion of Jesus. But as we just read the authority behind the crucifixion was “from above”.

7. The Cross has a dual meaning depending on your spiritual life.
1 Corinthians 1:17,18 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

•Something empties the cross of Christ of Power, it’s human wisdom or worldly wisdom.
1 Corinthians 1:21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.

2 Corinthians 1:12
Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God's grace.

James 3
•Two Kinds of Wisdom

–13Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. 16For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. 17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.

Humility characterizes Godly wisdom.

Same Message
•Different Interpretation
–To the perishing the cross is foolishness
–To the saved the cross is the power of God

Watch the Video Below



Now offer your life to Jesus as a living sacrifice!

Jubilee Family Church

The God of all Time

This beautiful story was written by a doctor who worked in South Africa.

One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died, leaving us with a tiny, premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive; as we had no incubator (we had no electricity to run an incubator). We also had no special feeding facilities.

Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates). 'And it is our last hot water bottle!' she exclaimed.

As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways.

'All right,' I said, 'put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm.'

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died.

During prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children.

'Please, God' she prayed, 'Send us a hot water bottle today. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon.'

While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, 'And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?'

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say 'Amen?' I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything; the Bible says so. But there are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever, received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there on the verandah was a large 22-pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes.

I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box.

From the top, I lifted out brightly-colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Then came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would make a batch of buns for the weekend.

Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the....could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out. Yes, a brand new, rubber hot water bottle. I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could.

Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, 'If God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too!' Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully-dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted! Looking up at me, she asked, 'Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?'

'Of course,' I replied.

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my former Sunday school class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it 'that afternoon.'

Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. (Isaiah 65:24)

Jubilee Family Church

What's Been Going on?

I think I missed my 20 year high school reunion at Lafayette High School in St. Louis MO. I wanted to go but it would be hard for me to get away with all that's been going on. Those of you who are new subscribers to my blog I want to welcome you and encourage you to click around on the page to look at previous posts. Everything gets archived monthly so if things are a month old they will be somewhat hidden. Hurricane Ike brought with it widespread power outages across Arkansas. I believe the news last night said 172,000 customers were without power at the height of Ike's fury. Our home lost power on Saturday night with a loud popping sound outside. All the "experts" said, "That's a transformer that blew." I don't know what it was but they finally got the power turned back on about 2 hours after I'd safely stored all the contents of my freezer into a cooler and then took it to the deep freeze at church. Better safe than sorry.

Well, enough about my freezer (boring). I launched an online newspaper called the voice of Batesville on Saturday and I wanted you all to check it out. It's a local electronic paper with an international reach. I've contacted several expert contributors to write various editorials on a myriad of subjects. We also have a classified section that Brenda Holm is running for me. So if you live in Batesville and have something you want to buy or sell check out our e-paper.

Church has been going great. God's been good and sent us several visitors this Sunday. Even though power was out to most of Batesville, we had a good crowd here this Sunday. I'm so blessed to oversee a church as loving and caring as Jubilee Family Church.

I'm diligently working, mostly thinking, (which is a type of work) about the best way to launch our two Christian Radio Stations as well. We have a 450 W station on the 88.1 FM frequency and a 50 W station on 106.9 FM. I can go big with it or I can go small. Whatever God leads me to do (probably big) I will make sure that God is glorified in everything. I believe, us having a couple stations will give us a new measure of influence in the region for Christ. Please continue to pray until the vision becomes a reality. This is a relatively large project and I'm believing that we'll have something on the air within six months.

I've run out of creative juices for now. God bless you real big!

Jubilee Family Church

A Baptist Dog

A Baptist preacher and his wife decided to get a new dog. Ever mindful of the congregation, they knew the dog must also be a Baptist. They visited kennel after kennel and explained their needs. Finally, they found a kennel whose owner assured them he had just the dog they wanted.

The owner brought the dog to meet the pastor and his wife. "Fetch the Bible," he commanded. The dog bounded to the bookshelf, scrutinized the books, located the Bible, and brought it to the owner.

"Now find Psalm 23," he commanded. The dog dropped the Bible to the floor, and showing marvelous dexterity with his paws, leafed through and finding the correct passage, pointed to it with his paw.

The pastor and his wife were very impressed and purchased the dog. That evening, a group of church members came to visit. The pastor and his wife began to show off the dog, having him locate several Bible verses. The visitors were very impressed. One man asked, "Can he do regular dog tricks, too?"

"I haven't tried yet," the pastor replied.

He pointed his finger at the dog. "HEEL!" the pastor commanded. The dog immediately jumped on a chair, placed one paw on the pastor's forehead and began to howl. The pastor looked at his wife in shock and said, "Good Lord, He's Pentecostal! "

Proverbs 17:22A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Jubilee Family Church

God Hasn't Given us a Spirit of Fear

by Tony Hammack

We went ahead and recorded tonight's video discussion with my web cam. My other camera has been giving me some audio problems so I didn't use it. Butch who normally runs the video didn't make it to church tonight so the camera doesn't move. Any how I hope you can see and hear our discussion that took several rabbit trails on Wednesday night.
Click HERE to watch the video.

Below are the notes from our discussion. I hope this blesses you.

2 Timothy 1:7
–For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (NIV)

2 Timothy 1:7
–For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (KJV)

•2 Timothy 1:7
–For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. (NASB)

•2 Timothy 1:7
–For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control. (AMPL)

Why is it a good idea when trying to understand the Bible to look at the verse in different English translations?

On Acronym for Fear
• F – False
• E – Evidence
• A – Appearing
• R – Real

When is fear a good thing?

What God doesn’t Give us
• Timidity - 1 : lacking in courage or confidence 2 : lacking in boldness or determination
What God Doesn’t Give Us
• Cowardice - lack of courage or resolution
What God Doesn’t Give Us
• Craven - lacking the least bit of courage : contemptibly fainthearted
What God Doesn’t Give Us
• Cringing - 1 : to draw in or contract one's muscles involuntarily (as from cold or pain) 2 : to shrink in fear or servility 3 : to behave in an excessively humble or servile way.

Compare and contrast the similarities and differences between being a son or daughter of God with being a slave of God. Use scripture in your analysis. Consider

Luke 17:10
So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "

Romans 8:14
because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

John 15:14
You are my friends if you do what I command.

Also consider Mary and Martha Luke 10:38-41

Note: It’s always a good idea to look at scripture in the context in which it appears in the Bible before trying to understand its application for your own life.

Don’t Be Afraid
• John 14:27
– 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Romans 8:12-25
This section of scripture mentions sonship many times. Read over this as a group and discuss how to become a son of God? (Answer: be led by the Spirit v. 14) How you can know you are God’s child? (Answer: the Spirit bears witness with our spirit v. 16) What it means to be a child? (Answer: we are heirs to share in his suffering and thus his glory) Who’s waiting for the Sons of God to be revealed? (Answer: The Creation v. 19) Why does the Spirit within us groan? (Answer: we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons v.22)

The Fear Not Book 7x’s God says to "Fear Not in the Book of Isaiah

Why do you think Isaiah prophecies the word of the Lord, Do not Fear so many times?
(Answer: In the first 39 chapters, Isaiah prophesies doom for a sinful Judah and for all the nations of the world that oppose God. The last 27 chapters prophesy the restoration of the nation under a divine king.) What insight does this give you into the heart of God? (Answer: He's ultimately redemptive.)
• Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

• Isaiah 41:13
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
What God Does Give Us
• Power – Dunamis -

1. "power to work, to carry something into effect,"

2. "power, inherent ability," is used of works of a supernatural origin and character, such as could not be produced by natural agents and means. It is translated "miracles“.

3. of that which manifests God's "power:"
What God DOES Give Us
• Love – Agape the "love" that values and esteems. It is an unselfish "love," ready to serve.

• A Calm, well balanced mind – sophronismos From the Greek word sophron, which literally means "saving the mind," primarily, "an admonishing or calling to soundness of mind, or to self-control," sophron, "of sound mind."

• Self Discipline - correction or regulation of oneself for the sake of improvement

The above material is from our Wednesday evening discussion. I hope you check us out at Jubilee T.V.


Jubilee Family Churchevery Wednesday night 6:30 PM and Sunday Morning 10:00 AM.