The Testimony of the Gospel

Larry Siegle
04/20/25 - Sun AM

Link to sermon video: The Testimony of the Gospel - L Siegle

WHO IS ‘THIS JESUS’? VI

“THE TESTIMONY OF THE GOSPEL”

(John 14:1-7)

Series: WHO IS THIS ‘JESUS’?

Thesis: The “gospel accounts” are designed to introduce the people to the person and work of Jesus Christ

INTRODUCTION

1. The title of this series is Who is ‘This Jesus’?

2. This is the sixth lesson in our study: THE TESTIMONY OF THE GOSPEL

CHAPTER SUMMARY:

1. Today is “EASTER” on the calendar, or more properly Pascha or what is commonly known as the Jewish feast of the

Passover—that was a celebration of Israel’s deliverance from the “house of bondage” (Exod. 20:1, 2).

a. The nation (collectively) had been redeemed from this “house of bondage” with a “mighty hand” (Deut. 7:8).

b. God had protected and preserved Israel, over the course of time, never again to return to that “house of

bondage” from which they had been rescued (Josh 24:17).

c. God made a covenant with Israel at the time of their deliverance from that “house of bondage” (Jer. 34:13).

1) The covenant was a declaration of their liberation from having been kept in bondage (enslaved) all of those

years in Egypt, liberty they were to always remember and to cherish.

2) They were to proclaim liberty to their fellow Israelites and their neighbors and to “set them free” from a debt

that had been owed (Jer. 34:12-16).

d. Israel was to come to know “the righteousness of the Lord” because He had redeemed them from that “house of bondage” (Micah 4, 5).

REMEMBERING THE “BONDAGE” AND REMEMBERING THE “DELIVERANCE”

1. God simply wanted His people to remember from whence they had come (the painful memories) of what it was like

before and what their life had become.

2. The problem Israel had and that we have today also, it our lack of memory as it pertains to where and to what we

once were, in comparison with where and to what we have become NOW.

a. The word “remember” occurs more than 160 times in both the Old and New Testaments.

3. Moses told the people to remember and never forget the extent to which God’s tender love, mercy, and grace

extended to them (as a nation) in need of deliverance—to know how to walk with the Lord each day (Deut. 4:1,5-14).

a. The people then and now needed to appreciate the progressive nature of their faithfulness. Listen =

Remember = Live (These three interconnected stages).

b. The Pacha (Passover) was celebrated each year so that each generation of people would be connected to what

God had accomplished on their behalf.

THE “DELIVERANCE” OF BELIEVERS

1. People of the world do not realize the “house of bondage” into which they find themselves.

2. There is a vast difference between material prosperity and the “house of bondage” a person may experience today.

a. a study conducted in 2010 suggested that wealth and having a significant level of monetary income does not

improve emotional well-being (not a study I was asked to participate in).

b. Our status in life, level of income or lack thereof all create some areas that relate to a “house of bondage”

3. Jesus entered into the world to bring “freedom” (liberty) from whatever it is that keeps us in the “house of bondage”

(John 8:31-33)—Israel, and the religious leaders had forgotten the “house of bondage” from which they had been

delivered.

a. Each one of us here today is at a different stage of life and development—and it is imperative that we remain

aware of how the grace and goodness of God has brought genuine deliverance into our lives (John 8:31-36).

b. Whether we recognize it or not, there has been a time when we were in “bondage” to “sin and death” (Rom.

7:24)

c. The sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ provided the deliverance necessary to enter into the very presence of God (Rom. 8:1-4, 14-17, 19-21).

I. WE REMEMBER THE EVENTS OF THIS RESURRECTION DAY AS A DAY OF “DELIVERANCE” (I PET. 1:18-20).

1. Because of the deliverance God provided we follow in the footsteps of Jesus (Rom. 6:3-5) and are“ raised” in the

likeness of Christ—dead to sin but alive to God! (Rom. 6:5-11, 17, 18, 22).

2. This deliverance “from the bondage of sin and death” includes our preservation and protection as we walk with God.

II. WE REMEMBER THE EVENTS OF THIS RESURRECTION DAY BECAUSE GOD PRESERVES AND PROTECTS US (PHIL. 1:6;

JUDE 24, 25).

III. WE REMEMBER THE EVENTS OF THIS RESURRECTION DAY BECAUSE GOD MADE A COVENANT THAT PROVIDES OUR

STANCE AND RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

1. A “covenant” is that which determines the boundaries of relationship.

2. Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant, whereas Jesus in the mediator of the New Covenant (I Tim. 2:3-7; Heb.

8:6; 9:15)—Jesus shed His own blood as the means through which “forgiveness of sins” was made possible to those

who accept the ‘terms of admission’ into the new covenant.

a. The new covenant is a blessing of the cross of Chrst—Jesus paid it all!

IV. WE REMEMBER THE EVENTS OF THIS RESURRECTION DAY BECAUSE OF THE MESSAGE OF LIBERTY WE NOW

PROCLAIM TO THOSE WHO ARE SPIRITUALLY CAPTIVES (ISA. 61:1-11).

V. WE REMEMBER THE EVENTS OF THIS RESURRECTION DAY BECAUSE WE CAN NOW AND FOREVER “KNOW THE

RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD” DEMONSTRATED IN OUR LIVES (II COR. 5:21).

1. Despite our failures, sins, and shortcomings, our entrance into Christ has became the “way” that leads to a life forever

in the presence of God (John 14:6; Heb. 10:19-23).

2. As was the case with Israel ‘remembering’ their salvation from the “house of bondage” we gather together each week

to “remember” the depth of meaning of the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

3. The “first day of the week” is forever a testimony of the victorious “resurrection” of Christ (Acts 20:7).

CONCLUSION

1. What could be more precious that our taking the time this morning to “remember” the cross of Jesus, His suffering

and death, and to “celebrate” His glorious “resurrection” from the dead (Rom. 1:4)?

2. As we live our lives each day, God wants us to have times of thoughtful meditation about what God has done, to love

Him and to appreciate His love, mercy and grace.

3. What is our need on this day?