Introduction: Is leadership an innate ability? Is a person born that way? Or does it require development? If we take examples in the Bible, it appears the GREATEST Leader of all, JESUS CHRIST, developed those He chose, even though Judas FAILED the test. Consider these perspectives:

1. Where have you been in 1st FOLLOWING Jesus? (Matt 4:18-22) – “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.”

These were men who both saw and trusted JESUS to lead them. Are you willing to TRUST Jesus to lead you? You’ve trusted Him to forgive you, haven’t you? Now take it another step and let Him guide you. But how can we do that?

2. Where are you at right now in FOLLOWING Jesus? (Heb 12:5-11) – “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

Are you willing to be CORRECTED by His WORD? His Spirit? Through others in authority? This is the difficult part because of our independence. But in order to have “SPIRITUAL” influence, we must be willing to be trained and corrected by our Lord.

3. Where are you going in FOLLOWING Jesus? (John 21:21-23) – “Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?”

Peter, like us, was more concerned about what was going on with John than FOLLOWING Jesus. This is a GREAT lesson for us. Why? Because we look around and wonder about people instead of FOLLOWING Jesus.

But on the other hand, are there some things that you need to “Hold on” to? Hold on to your faith in Jesus! Hold on to the promises of God! Hold on to your eternal security! Hold on to Hope in the Lord! Hold on to the Goodness of God!

1. Let Go of Murmuring and Complaining! (Phil 2:14) – “Do all things without murmurings and disputings.”

The word “murmurings” is γογγυσμός (pronounced gong-goos-MOS). Technically speaking, it means grumbling or complaining. With all the troubles and trials that are coming against us daily, do you find yourself “pouting” instead of “shouting”? Are you going to “chose to lose”? Or, are you going to “make a choice to rejoice”?

2. Hold on to your Bible! (Phil 2:16) – “Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”

And next, perhaps you have wanted someone to be saved, or get in Church, and have gone “overboard” or “overkill”, and inadvertently become critical. Pray for wisdom and compassion instead of being critical or judgmental.

Keep letting Him have His way with you. Let Him work in—then work out what He works in—all for His glory.

This is what is said about Shunammite woman (2 Kings 4:8), “And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.” The inspired Word of God declares this woman was a “GREAT” woman. Why? Because our Lord knew her character.

Did you notice the words “angels with a great sound of a trumpet”? Why is this significant? Because there are those who claim that this passage, along with 1 Corinthians 15:51,52, are the same event—namely the rapture. Why is this Matthew 24:30,31 not the rapture even though it mentions the “trumpet sounding”?

The answer is because a careful study of both passages indicates several truths: The passage in 1 Corinthians 15 is a message to the Church; whereas, the message in Matthew 24 is to Israel, before the Church was established, which is found in Acts 2. Therefore, one would conclude that the rapture passage—“the trumpet sounding” in 1 Corinthians 15:51,52—can be compared with 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17, which clearly states the dead in Christ are going to be resurrected at the sound of the trump.

Apparently, Zechariah’s prophecy is describing the events after the second coming of Jesus when the battle of Armageddon takes place. At the millennium, during the reign of Christ, trumpets will be sounding at the feast of Tabernacles. That means Paul’s writing to the Church of Corinth—“the last trumpet”—was not literally intended to mean the very last trumpet.

Introduction: Tracing the last steps of our Lord Jesus reminds us of His ultimate mission for coming to this earth. He went from CELEBRATION in the Upper Room, to DESPERATION in the Garden of Gethsemane, to CRUCIFIXION on the cross, to RESURRECTION from the grave, and to His coming REVELATION in the clouds!

John writes, “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Rev 1:7-8).

The songwriter penned these words,

1. Jesus’ CELEBRATION with His disciples at the Last Supper was marked with HUMILITY!

He used the “broken bread” and “poured out juice” commemorating the Passover which was initiated by the Lord in the book of Exodus. The elements (bread & juice) are used symbolically of His broken body and shed blood as a sacrifice on the cross. Although at the moment the disciples did not fully understand the meaning, later they were able to grasp its significance. Therefore, it radically transformed their lives….and this writer, to0.

“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives” (Matt 26:26-30).

2. Jesus’ CRUCIFIXION on the cross was marked with AGONY! (John19:16-19) – “Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

3. Jesus’ RESURRECTION from the grave was marked with VICTORY! (Luke 24:1-6) – “Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee.”

4. Jesus’ “SECOND COMING” will be marked with GLORY! (Rev 19:11-16)

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

• To Forgive!
• To Love!
• To Keep!
• To Bless!
• To Comfort!
• To Accept!
• To Empower!
• To Come Again!