The Highway To Heaven

Pastor Dave Kralik

COMMUNITY GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE HOSTED BY THE HOXIE MINISTERIAL ALLIANCE AND HELD AT THE SAINT FRANCIS CABRINNI CATHOLIC CHURCH, HOXIE KANSAS

Scripture Reading - Psalm 51:1-17

In the Sermon On The Mount Jesus said,

"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Matthew 7:13-14

I consider it both a tremendous priviledge and an awesome responsibility to be able to share with you in this Good Friday commemoration of the crucifiction of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Truly, it is good to be here and to share collectively as the Body of Christ, irrespective of denominational flavor, in looking back upon the price that our Lord paid to purchase our salvation, in looking ahead at the promise of eternal life in heaven and in looking inward to weigh and measure the welfare of our souls. May the Holy Spirit fill this sanctuary with His Presence and draw us closer to His perfect will for our lives.

David's prayer of repentance that we find in Psalm 51 is so appropriate and full of instruction for us today. We really find ourselves in this psalm and we certainly ought to be honest before the Lord and receive the instruction in it.

I. DAVID FOUND HIMSELF IN THE PLACE WHERE HE KNEW HE NEEDED TO REPENT.

He knew he had transgressed the moral law of God and had engaged in sinful behavior and as conviction for sin gripped his heart he began to cry out to God for forgiveness. Can you feel the heart of David as he wept before the Lord....

Have mercy upon me, O God....

Blot out my transgressions....

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity....

Cleanse me from my sin....

I acknowledge my transgressions....

My sin is always before me....

Against You, You only, have I sinned....

Do not cast me away from Your presence....

Do not take Your Holy Spirit from me....

The guilt and shame of David's affair with Bathsheba and the murder of Bathsheba's husband was very real to him and the reality of it brought him to his knees.

What about us? What sin lies unconfessed and unrepented of in our lives? What virtue have we stained? Whose character have we assassinated with the weapon of words that seem to flow so freely from carnality that is left unchecked? Think about it. And let's be honest with ourselves and before the Lord about this while there's time remaining in our lives to repent of our sins and to make amends for the damage and hurt that we've caused before we face the consequences of it.

We can never be whole and well emotionally and spiritually as long as we have unconfessed and unrepented of sin in our lives.

Jesus began his preaching ministry in Mark 1:15 by saying,

"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel."

Repentance is more than changing our minds. Repentance is changing the attitudes of our hearts. Repentance isn't blowing something off because it didn't work out. Repentance is grieving in our hearts because our actions have fallen short of God's standards.

God has overlooked our times of ignorance....

"but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising him from the dead...." Acts 17:30-31

II. DAVID REALIZED HOW DESPARATELY HE NEEDED RENEWAL AND RESTORATION.

Though he had never been to a psychologist, David knew that the layers of his subconscious mind had been affected by his sin and he felt the spiritual separation from God that sin had effected upon him. Listen to him and feel with him as he cries out to God....

You desire truth in the inward parts....

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean....

Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow....

Create in me a clean heart....

Renew a steadfast spirit within me....

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation....

The Apostle Paul, in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 says,

"But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth."

Renewal and restoration is a process of cleansing that God desires to perform in our lives to dismantle the strongholds of darkness in our inner beings to make us completely His so we can be free. God desires to go deep into the basement of our personality where anger, resentment, bitterness, confusion and self-centeredness lie molding, mildewing and corrupting. God desires to cleanse us, renew us and restore us in the inner depths of our being.

Quoting the prophet Isaiah, Jesus said,

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." Luke 4:18-19

Jesus came to earth on a mission of renewal and restoration. Allow him to have his way in your life to perfect that which concerns you.

III. DAVID KNEW THAT ONLY THROUGH REPENTANCE AND THE PROCESS OF RENEWAL AND RESTORATION WOULD HE REDISCOVER A HEART FILLED WITH REJOICING.

Repentance, renewal and restoration tear down the roadblocks and pull out the hedges that hinder our liberty and freedom in the Holy Spirit to sense and experience the elevation of jubulation.

Feel the heart of David......

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation,

And my tongue shall sing aloud...

O Lord, open my lips, And

My mouth shall show forth Your praise...

Salvation in Jesus Christ is our means to renewal and restoration into fellowship with God. Restoration into fellowship with God is our means to elevation above the sins of our past. And elevation above the sins of our past is the catapault that launces us soul and spirit into the realm of jubulation where we rejoice in the presence of the Holy One who loved us and gave himself for us.

This is the "Highway"! All other ways are only a downward spiral that lead to heartache, destruction and eventual eternal condemnation.

This the "Highway!" This is the only way that leads to abundant life in the here and now and everlasting rejoicing in the presence of God for all eternity.

Jesus said in John 11:25-26.....

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?

Yes Lord. I believe. And I thank you for the revelation of Jesus Christ whom you have made real to my heart. Thank you for the privilege of repentance where you draw us into the place of remembrance of our sins. Thank you for the renewal and restoration that comes to us to cleanse us of sin, to wash us white as snow and to create a clean heart within us. Thank you for the lift that you give us that enables us to rejoice now in the joy of your salvation. And thank you for the promise of eternity in your presence because we have believed in the Only Son of God who lived among us as our Teacher, died on a cross for our sins, was raised to life as the Firstborn among many brethren and is presently making intercession for us even now as we pray. Amen.