Begin reading in verse 15 This
is After the death of our Lord Jesus
Christ on the crucify on the cross being crucified And he has arisen from the grave Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing
him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne
him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take
him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself and saith
unto him, Rabbani, which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto
her, touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my father, but
go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my father
and your father, and to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene
came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that
he had spoken these things unto her. Then the same day at evening,
being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where
the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus
and stood in the midst and saith unto them, peace be unto you. I'm just gonna stop right there.
My title today is My Father, Your Father. Good, Tommy, good. Well, you know, it's kind of
obvious. It's all right. Obvious is good too, you understand? The truth is clear if you got
eyes to see. It just is. But if you don't
have eyes to see, you're gonna miss everything. But that's my
title today. I got a quote here from Horatius
Bonar. He said, It is not opinions that
man needs. It is truth. It's not theology. It's God. God. It's not religion. It is Christ
that man needs. And Isaac Watt also instructed
us to acquaint ourselves with our own ignorance. It's important
sometimes to know what you don't know. or to know that you don't
understand, then read the scriptures. Ask God for guidance, and he'll
give it. I've seen it, I've known it to
happen to me, I've seen it happen to other people who've told me.
You understand, we do have to know, Paul tells us in the scriptures,
I would not have you be ignorant. Why? Because sometimes we are. That's just the way we are. The
only cure for man's ignorance is the knowledge of the glory
of God as it is in the face of Jesus Christ. Now today, I'm
going to be dealing with a couple of little things, but part of it involves the Trinity.
Because you have Christ, the Son, saying, I go to my Father. And your father. Very important. I like that, I do. I'm gonna
wanna get ahead of myself right quick. But here's the thing.
I can't explain the Trinity. But I believe it. I can read
it. I can say it. There are three
persons in the Godhead. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. Explaining that I can't do. But
it's so. It is so, because here we have
Jesus Christ, who is God, manifests in the flesh, talking about his
father and going to my God. You know why? Because we can
understand it. We can only, now, let's not start
that right now, but I can read it. By his grace, I believe it,
and also by his grace, I can proclaim it. This is the truth
of God. There's the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit, and those three are one, are one, oh. Jesus Christ said in verse 17
of John 20, Jesus saith unto her, touch me not, for I am not
yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and say unto
them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God
and to your God. Now this is Jesus Christ right
after his resurrection from the dead talking to Mary Magdalene. The first person he encounters
after he's risen from the dead is a woman called Mary Magdalene,
out of whom he had cast seven devils, seven devils. And yes,
she was a woman. These are the words of the resurrected
Christ. But in his own words, these are
his words of his pre-ascended Christ. He said, I'm not yet
ascended, don't touch me. And he said it and he meant it.
Don't touch me, I'm not yet ascended. Or yet, yet. And our Lord gave Mary Magdalene
a message to relay, to tell. And he tells her who to go to. What's he say? Go to my brethren. Say unto them. You understand,
the Lord Jesus Christ's first message was for his brethren,
his brethren, his brothers and sisters. Let's be clear, what's
this mean? This is not a message for the
world. This is not a message for unbelievers.
This is what Christ is saying to his brethren, to his disciples,
to those who had followed him. Oh my, to those who knew him
and to those who believed him. Mm, I'm gonna tell you something. Go to my brethren. That's what
he says to her. Now, if you would, just to be
sure we know who he's talking about, go to Matthew chapter
12. Matthew chapter 12, beginning
in verse 47. Well, 46. While he yet talked
to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without
desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, behold. I like that. Behold, thy mother
and thy brethren stand without desiring to speak with thee.
But he answered and said unto him that told him, who is my
mother and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand
toward his disciples and said, behold, my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will
of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister
and mother. Christ said believers are my
family. Those who would do the will of
the Father, those who would believe Christ, those who would trust
Christ, this is my Father's will. We are to do his father's will
as best as we're possible, as he gives unto us. But here's
the thing, he does not refer to his earthly mother and his
earthly brethren as family. Here he's telling us, these are
my brethren. So when he's telling Mary Magdalene, go to my brethren,
she goes not to the mother of Jesus. She goes to the disciples. when Mary Magdalene came and
told the disciples that she had seen. That's where she goes. Matter of fact, in Hebrews 2
and 12 it says this, saying I will declare, wait a minute, for both
he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one. For which cause he is not ashamed
to call them brethren. That's what it says. Saying I
will declare my name Thy name unto my brethren in the midst
of the church will I sing praise unto thee. The message that Christ
had after his resurrection from the dead was to those that believed
him. Those that knew him. Those that
trusted him. What am I saying? Regenerate
people. Believers. Those that are saved. Christ has a message for his
brethren and I'm gonna tell you something. The message for his
brethren is good news. It's good news. I'm a pay. I
like good news and I know where the good news is and I know who
the good news is. It's him. It's him. But what's
the message? He says, tell them I ascend under
my father and your father. Oh my, that's some good words
right there. That's some good news. Oh, I like that. I do Jesus at
this time was to ascend to his father and to your father. I'm
going to tell you something. This is a hint. Christ said my
father and your father. He's talking about the same father.
He's talking about the same father. There's a There's a song which
I knew from the bad old days. And every now and then, at the
exact wrong time, this verse will pop into my head from this
song. It's always the wrong time, you
know, it's just the way it works. The verse is this, or the stanza
is this, with God as our father, brothers all are we. Now, that's
true, if God is your father. You understand, Christ sent this
message to his brethren. This is not the message to the
world. I ascend to my father and to your father, and I'm talking
to you. I'm talking to you. Matthew 12, which we just read,
tells us plainly that my father's not everyone's father. My family
is not everyone's family. My brethren are those who follow
me and who follow the Lord. But if you look at Matthew six
and verses seven through 13, tells you this. But when you
pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do. for they think
that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore likened to
them for your father knoweth what things ye have need of before
you ask him. After this manner therefore pray
ye." And here's those two words, our father, our father, my father,
in your father. Which art in heaven, hallowed
be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. He just told them, don't pray
like the heathen. They use what? Vain repetitions. Vain repetitions. Think, thinking
they'll be heard for their much speaking. Now, we don't do this here, and
by God's will we will never do this here. But I was born and
raised Catholic. So one of the things you do is
everyone in Unison, let's recite the Lord's Prayer. And everybody
goes, our Father, who art in. And let me tell you something,
folks. That's not a prayer. That's a recitation. They're
reciting it the same way kids have to recite the Gettysburg
Address in school. And they think that they're going
to be heard because of what? They're much speaking. If we
can get everybody to say the Our Father, that's what they
call it too, the Our Father. No. Christ said, these other
people, these disciples are my brethren. Oh, I like that. We are to pray to our father,
my father, and your father, after this manner. It's a pattern of how you pray. Praise to God, ask your petition,
and thank God. Whether he gives it to you or
not, whatever you're praying for, he knows before you ask. And this is the thing some people
won't tell you about prayer, folks. Sometimes the answer is
no. Most of the time, for me, the
answer is no, it seems to be. Sometimes it's not yet. It may
come later. I've had that happen. But here
it is. They recite, not pray. The heathen
do mass recitation. Like I said, unfortunately, I
used to be a part of it. What's he say? I ascend unto
my father and to your father. Whoa. Now, at this present time,
he doesn't tell you why he's ascending. I can speculate. I have my opinions,
of which I think very highly, as somebody said once. But it's
an opinion. But there can be no doubt of
this. The one that Jesus Christ called my father is the very
same father of his brethren. He was going to ascend to my
father and to your father. And then he says this, and to
my God and to your God. just in case you weren't sure
who he was talking about. It uses the Greek word there,
theos. Now, in a way, this is a repetition
of what he said in the first. I ascend unto my father and your
father. This is a repetition. And to
your God and my God. But here's the thing, it's a
different word. It's the word theos, like I said. What did
he say? Jesus Christ is telling us his
father, my father, is God. My father is God. You understand?
I ascend to my supreme divinity and to your supreme divinity. That's what he's talking about. He who is God was ascending to
God. Yeah. I almost feel about this
the same way Martin Luther used to feel about God forsaking God. My God, my God, why has thou
forsaken me? Christ called it out on the cross.
And he said, God forsaking God? How in the world can I explain
it? Well, you can't explain it. Just believe it. But Jesus Christ
said, I ascend to my God and to your God, to the supreme divinity,
the very same. There's only one supreme divinity,
just as there is only one true father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the beloved son. Oh, you understand this. The well-beloved son had given
himself over to do the Father's will. That's what he came here to do.
God manifests in the flesh. Jesus Christ, what did he say?
He humbled himself, that's what it says, and took on the flesh. He came not in sinful flesh,
but he came in the likeness of sinful flesh. What to fulfill
the father's will He came and was a man found in fashion as
a man and what he humbled himself to the death on the cross The
death of the cross and I'm gonna tell you this it was for his
brethren for his brethren and it was to My God and your God. It was to my father and your
father. Oh my. Now, I like this. John chapter 20 verse 19. The first thing, he sent Mary
Magdalene with this message. He said, I'm going to send to
my father and your father. I'm going to send to my God and
your God. But the first thing, when Jesus
Christ stands in that room, what was shut up for fear of the Jews,
doesn't say it was a locked room, but it seems that way, was barred,
it was shut. And he came and he stood in the
midst of them and saith unto them, peace be unto you. I like that. And you know what
that peace be unto you is coming from? That's coming from, I ascended
to my father and to your father. I ascended to my God and your
God, the same God. And here's the message, peace
be unto you. Or if you want to, that be is
in italics, just say it, peace unto you. To who? His brethren, his brethren, the
brothers and sisters of Christ. He's not ashamed to call us brethren. Why? Because we are. It's just,
it's just a beautiful thing folks. Christ's father is my father. And if you believe him, he's
your father. Christ God is your God. That is just, Astounding to me. Astounding. He appeared to his
brethren and his disciples, and to be honest now, in Mark and
Luke, those who Mary Magdalene spoke to, didn't believe her.
They didn't believe her. Doesn't that sound like us? Sure. And you know the whole thing
is? They give doubting Thomas a hard time. People do. Because Thomas said, I'm not
going to believe it until I see it. Those disciples didn't believe
it until they saw it. This is before the Holy Ghost
had come. Sometimes the Holy Spirit was with you, but he shall
be in you after the day of Pentecost. But that sounds like us. Yeah,
Mary, thanks. Mary Magdalene. Men have a tendency to denigrate
women. God uses them to send us a message sometimes. Oh, I'm gonna tell you something.
Peace unto you, who? My brethren, my brethren, my
brothers and sisters, heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus
Christ. Oh, I like that too. Oh, now
what? Peace. Well, the peace of God,
the peace of Christ, and I'm gonna tell you something even
better from my point of view, peace with God. I like that. You understand? Because that intimates when he
says you have peace with God, that means you and God have a
relationship and you're at peace. You're at peace. Oh, I like that
too. You understand the name of that Goofy song, I get that
verse in my head, I told you about. With God as our father,
brothers all are we. Well, the name of that song and
the first stanza of that song is, let there be peace on earth. Which is a nice thought, okay.
The second verse is, and let it begin with me. Let me tell
you something, folks. Peace never begins with you. Not true peace. It begins with
God. It begins with Christ. It begins
with the Holy Spirit. Anyway. Because Jesus Christ is our peace. He is peace. And we, those who
have God as our father, only have peace by the peace given
to us by Christ Jesus. And that peace, he only gives
to his brethren, his brothers and sisters. Therefore, Romans
5 and 1 states, being justified by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. In our Lord Jesus Christ, we
have nothing to fear from God. God is at peace with us in Christ. in Christ. Now, yes, you may
be chastised. All sons are. All children are. But that chastisement yields
the peaceable fruit of righteousness. And if you're not chastised,
it says you're bastards and not sons. That's what the scripture
says. But we have nothing to fear from
God. My God is at peace with us in Christ. It is true. Listen folks. It is true God
is angry with the wicked every day Not just God's angry with
the wicked he's wicked he's angry with the wicked every day In
Christ, you're not wicked We sin We have sin in us we commit
sin But you understand, in Christ, you are not wicked. And God is
angry with the wicked every day. That hasn't changed. Like anything
else, I am the Lord, I change not. What? The God of peace is
my God and your God. Oh my. And the God of peace is
with you. I like that, I like that. Peace
be with you. peace with you. Oh my, my father
and your father, my God and your God. How glorious is that? Oh, listen, the God of all grace
is our father and our God. Oh, Christ's father is our father. And he told us, you pray after
this manor, our father. You pray it. You can go to God through Christ,
in Christ, by Christ. We can approach under his throne
and say, Abba, Father. Oh, I like that idea. I like
the reality too. I just wish I felt it more. You understand, if I could lay
hold on this, I'd be a happy man. And while I was studying
this, I was a happy man. It is, it makes you feel good.
Study the scriptures sometime, let me tell you. Because here's the thing. This
is true. I go unto my father and your
father. And I ascend to my God. in your God. That's just as true
as ye must be born again. I'd like to really lay hold of
that. I really would like to lay hold of that and just keep
it to myself and share it with some, but you ever get the feeling you'd
like to believe better? You know, it's true. I'd like
to believe better than I do. But it's true whether I know
it or not. It's true whether I like it or
not. But I do like it. I like it a
lot. But here, I'm gonna tell you
something. I'll leave you with this. Joseph Hart wrote this as a verse
of a song. But what says our shepherd divine
for his blessed word we should keep? This flock has my father
made mine. I lay down my life for my sheep. Tis life everlasting I give. My blood was the price my sheep
cost. Not one that on me shall believe. shall ever be finally lost. Understand, 2,000 years ago or
thereabouts, Jesus Christ said, I ascend to my father and your
father. He said, I ascend to my God and
your God. He's still there. He's still
there. And what's the scripture tell
us? He's seated at the right hand of the majesty on high,
who is our father and our God. Why? And he ever liveth to make
intercession for us, for us. And we need his intercession.
And I want his intercession. Oh, I just marvel at that. Christ come out and said to Mary
Magdalene right after he's resurrected, don't touch me. I'm gonna ascend
to my father and to your father. I'm gonna ascend to my God and
to your God. God is our father. We are members. of Christ's body, members in
particular. He's our head, our glorious head. Oh my. But God is my father. And my father is God. That's some deep stuff. But it's
true. And it's glorious. And here's
the thing, folks, if you believe it, that's good news. That's
good news. Christ said it, and he meant
it. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
again for this time and this place. We're thankful again for,
oh, your amazing grace. And it is sweet, the sound and
reality of the love of Christ for his people. The death he
died, his blood was shed, and he ascended to your right hand.
He made his offering of his blood in person to you and for his
people. The good shepherd did lay down
his life for the sheep, and the good shepherd took up again that
life. My, thank you, Lord. In Christ's
name we pray. Very much.