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Category: Saving Faith

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The Amazing Resurrection of Jesus Christ

“Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ And they remembered His words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.”  [Luke 24:1–9]

     It was the third day since Jesus had been among His followers; the third day since His arrest at Gethsemane, the third day since His suffering on our part had begun – where were His disciples and those women who loved Him dearly?  They were in Jerusalem mourning His death.  Had they forgotten the words of their Master spoken just days earlier? Had they forgotten that He said, “On the third day I WILL rise again?” Had they forgotten or did they just fail to believe what He said?

To be fair to His followers, what Jesus said about His suffering and death was unconscionable – unthinkable, unreasonable and unacceptable; they could not bear the thought of their Teacher and friend being treated in the ways that Jesus had described He would be; but it was after all Jesus who told them – shouldn’t they have believed? 

The Proof of the Resurrection of Christ…

The fact that Christ’s closest followers were still in Jerusalem is an important one for this reason – had they believed that He would rise again they should have been well on their way back to Galilee. It was on their way to Gethsemane Matthew writes, where Jesus spoke the following words [Matthew 26:30–32]:

“And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ [Zech. 13:7]

But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.””

Jesus did not command them to go to Galilee but He suggested to them that they’d find Him there.  A point that the angel confirmed to Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome “and certain other women with them” in the gospel of Mark [16:7]:

“But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.””

If you had believed the words of Christ concerning His resurrection where would you have been?

I say this to you for a reason this morning.  You see, from that time till now there have been those who suggested that Jesus’ own disciples and followers had taken His body and hidden it so as to create the illusion of His resurrection.  Had they believed – perhaps; but seeing as they did not yet believe – that they didn’t even understand the point (see John 20:9) concerning Christ’s resurrection; seeing as the women were coming to complete the burial process begun two days earlier – seeing as they came to the tomb that day to anoint a corpse and not to see a risen Savior it can then be safely ruled out that the resurrection of Jesus was a hoax.

And just where were the men while the women went to anoint the body of the Lord? They were where the risen Lord would soon meet them – in the same secret place wherein they shared the last supper with Him in fear of the Jews, behind locked doors (John 20:19)

Jesus’ followers were in Jerusalem and He did not scold them for their lack of faith – He met them where they were.

The Witnesses of the Resurrected Christ…

     There were many witnesses of the resurrection and the resurrected; among them the angels and the empty tomb, these bore witness to both the resurrection and the resurrected.  The Apostle Matthew wrote [28:2] “And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it.” The angel opened the tomb and heralded the message of the resurrection to all who came to look in (Luke 24:6; Matt 28:6):

“He is not here, but is risen, as He said!”

The empty tomb, the folded grave clothes these became evidence supporting the announcement of the heralding angel’s – the same who had announced Christ’s birth to the shepherds 33 years earlier were now announcing that He who had been killed and who was dead, was now alive!  Good news – Christ is alive! The Angel rolled the stone away for one reason – so that we could look in and see the evidence of the resurrection.

Consider this as well – Jesus died before a crowd but He rose before no one. No one bears witness to His walking out of the tomb, through (not past) the boulder that sealed it back into the land of the living. Perhaps the guards who had been stationed at the tomb since just after the Lord’s body was placed in it (Matt. 27:62-65) saw the actual resurrection; they no doubt saw something (Matt. 28:4), something which overwhelmed their senses, something which was so significant that the chief priests and elders felt it necessary to bribe the guards to tell a lie, [Matt. 28:13]: ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’

“We operate every day with the principle that truth may be established on the testimony of eyewitnesses. We punish criminals even when we did not see the crime being committed, precisely because the evidence gives away the truth of the matter“[i] – in the case of the risen Savior there are many witnesses both to the empty tomb AND the risen Savior:

  1. He appeared to the women who had come to anoint His body for burial [Matt. 28:5-10]:

“But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.” So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.””

  • He appeared to Mary alone at the tomb [Mark 16:9]:

“Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.” (see John 20:11-18)

  • He appeared to Cleopas and another disciple whom I suspect was his wife Mary on the road to Emmaus [Luke 24:15-16]:

“So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.” [for the larger context see Luke 24:13-35]

  • He appeared to Peter [Luke 24:33-34]:

“So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!””  This is not the appearance at the sea of Galilee recorded in John 21 but another otherwise unmentioned meeting.

  • He appeared to the remaining apostles [John 20:19-20]:

“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, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.”

The Bible says that later Thomas (John 20:26-28) and a number of others adding up to over 500 more witnesses spoken of in [1 Cor. 15:5-6]:

“…and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep.”

Why mention all of these witnesses? Because the Bible states that a case is substantiated by the witness of two or more people (Deut. 19:15); in the account of Christ’s resurrection there were many more than 2 or 3 who saw Him alive AFTER His death, burial and resurrection.

The Attitudes concerning the Resurrection of Christ…

 There were many emotions and attitudes at work during the period of Christ’s suffering, death burial and resurrection as you might imagine – there was fear, then grief and heartbreak at His suffering and death.  Then hopelessness as expressed by the two on the Emmaus road [Luke 24:21]:

“But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.”

These two represent the disappointment and hopelessness felt by all who totally misunderstood why Christ came; in their understanding of the old testament scriptures they “saw the glory but not the suffering, the crown but not the cross”[ii] they didn’t fully understand until Jesus explained it to them on the road home (v.27; 32). Let me tell you that Jesus meets people at the point of their despair and hopelessness [v31] says,

“Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.”

When Thomas later handled Jesus his hopelessness and doubt was also changed and He exclaimed [John 20:28]:

 “My Lord and my God!””

The Bible says that after their eyes had been opened the two from Emmaus rushed back to Jerusalem over 7 miles away to tell the others the good news – they had seen and spoken with the Savior but before they could tell them that the disciples also had news that Peter had seen the Savior – Unbelief was turned to joy unspeakable when the disciples saw for themselves the risen Lord in the upper room – hope fulfilled has a way of doing that. [Luke 24:41] tells us that “they still did not believe for joy;” but that is the “I can’t believe it’s you!” kind of joy that comes when one is coming to terms with something amazing!

There aren’t many places more heartbreaking than a children’s hospital cancer ward; there, children who ought to be out playing and enjoying life are isolated, medicated and otherwise treated for their menacing life-threatening illness.  David Jeremiah told the story recently of a woman who with her Christian drama team went into such a place to put on a show for the kids – the drama was to be a musical reenactment of C.S.Lewis’ classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The children piled in and kept coming in wheel chairs, crutches one even on a gurney; there were so many kids that portions of the set had to be removed to accommodate them all; still the kids were nearly right next to the actors.

In one scene the Witch of Narnia kills the lion Aslan.  The children were silent except for their soft weeping – many of the children were crying.  You see, Aslan is in the story is symbolic of Jesus Christ – kind, loving, strong, brave and the lion was dying to save the life of another.

The tears and weeping of the children brought the activity director alongside the representative of the troupe and she was furious exclaiming that the children were already suffering enough without such a thing. The troupe director calmed her down and the scene continued to unfold –two girls, sisters singing and weeping in front of the body of their dead friend Aslan who at that same moment was rising up again alive!  The excitement and joy of that moment was electric as the children celebrated even poking their neighbor’s young and old alike saying “did you see!!!????He is alive!!” The director said that at that moment it was as if she were present at the very resurrection of Christ Himself – expressing that she imagined this is how it was when Christ arose victoriously over death and the grave.

Unbelief gave way to unspeakable joy the day Christ arose.

The Reason for the Resurrection…

What is the reason for the resurrection? Joy? Believability? No Jesus didn’t give His life and take it back again so that you’d necessarily be happy – that’s a benefit. Neither did He lay His life down and take it up again just to prove the point that He could.  No, the reason for Jesus’ death burial and resurrection is much more profound:

All mankind was “dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1).”

All mankind needs the forgiveness of God because all have sinned against Him (Rom. 3:23) and anyone, if they will live for God need new life.

You see, Jesus’ death is the key to the forgiveness of God. 

The Bible says in [Hebrews 9:22] “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” “It is the blood” says God in [Lev.17:11] that makes atonement for the soul.”

According to the word of God it is Christ’s blood that paid the price to rescue, save, deliver, ransom, and forgive us [1 Peter 1:18–19]: “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” He laid His life down as [Heb. 2:9] says “…that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.”

If Jesus’ death and specifically, His shed blood is the key to God’s forgiveness then His resurrection is the key to our new and eternal life.

[1 Corinthians 15:20–23]: “But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.”

The scripture declares [Eph. 2:4-7]: “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

Jesus died so that we might be forgiven and rose so that the life we have from Him we can share with Him forever.

Earlier I said that Jesus met His followers where they were.

Today, he is meeting you where you are.

Today he is meeting with the skeptic, the addict, the cynic and the sinner – He is saying, “Come awake, come awake, come and rise up from the grave” of your sin or your addiction and your doubt. He came to rescue and save not to judge and condemn (John 3:16-17) but that time is coming.

Jesus’ empty tomb proves that death does not have the last word.

The Lord said in [John 11:25]:

 “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”

Adding in (v.26)

“Do you believe this?”

That is the question of all questions on this day. Your unbelief does not change the truth that Jesus is Risen but your belief in the risen Son of God will change your life…. Do you believe?

The women who came to anoint the body of Jesus had to believe the angels report; the disciples who heard the women’s account had to believe the women; and we who have heard today and you who would have eternal life must believe the report of the disciples in the Word of God – Christ IS risen; risen indeed!!!

[i] Campbell, I. D. (2008). Opening up Matthew (p. 173). Leominster: Day One Publications.

[ii] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Lk 24:13). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

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Nothing But the Blood

Many Christians still sing the hymn that declares:

“What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow! No other fount I know: Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”

This is the day when we remember the price Jesus paid for our sins. He suffered for us. He was spit upon in our place. He took the beating we deserved. The prophet Isaiah declared that “the chastisement for our peace (with God) was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) Jesus paid it all!!! The Bible declares that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission (no forgiveness for sin).” (Hebrews 9:22) There is power in the blood that stained the old rugged cross…power to make the vilest of us clean before God.

On the day of His suffering and death, as Herod tried to talk the Jew’s out of condemning an innocent man to a cruel death, the people shouted “crucify Him, crucify Him!!! Seeing that they would not relent, Herod took water and washed his hands declaring to them: “I am innocent of the blood of this just person. You see to it!” To which they said: His blood be on us and our children!!” (Matt.27:24-25) They spoke those words with callous indifference but I KNOW what every believer knows today: Without that blood there is no forgiveness – no remission of sins! No pardon for iniquity! No purification of the soul and no peace with God! We need that blood!

Today, take a moment to consider the high price which Jesus voluntarily paid for your sins and mine so that we, by faith in Him could have an everlasting relationship with the Father. It is a bittersweet day – I grieve that He suffered for me but I am also so grateful that He did.

His death is not however, the END of the story….praise God!

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Stuck in The Impossible?

The month of December is marked by the celebration of Christmas; a time given to celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ into our world as a baby born to a virgin. I could spend time telling you that while Jesus Christ was most definitely born as the Bible declares – to a virgin (Luke 1:26-27) and at a time of God’s choosing (Galatians 4:4-5), He was not born on December the 25th.  I would point out to you the fact that we are in no place in the scriptures instructed to remember His birth but rather His death and promised return (1 Corinthians 11:26). But there is something in the story of His birth that I WOULD like to focus on instead and it is found in the first chapter of Luke’s gospel.

After the angel Gabriel had announced to Mary the plans which God the Father had for her in the accomplishing of His will and Mary questioned the impossibility that she, a woman who had never slept with a man, could conceive a child, the angel made a statement concerning God in (v. 37):

“For with God nothing will be impossible.”” (Luke 1:37)

I want to ask you, does this mean that in that one instance only, nothing would be impossible with God?  Today, as we struggle against the effects of a pandemic, and suffer the consequences of addictions we can not seem to free ourselves from – why do we live as if the fact that nothing is impossible for God only applies to the other guy and not to us? Or to another time and not to our own?

I truly feel as if the NIV especially does a disservice to the intent of the words spoken here when it renders (v.37) this way: “For no word from God will ever fail.” Is it true that God keeps His promises? Yes. Is it true that God does what He says He will do? Of course! But this rendering ignores the fact that the things you and I deem to be impossible do not slow God down in the least. With that in mind consider a few other passages which stress the FACT that with God NOTHING will be, or is impossible:

For a couple for whom the term “up in age” would be an understatement God promised a child.  Sarah, then in her 90’s, well past her child bearing years laughed at the impossible thought of intimacy with her 100 year old husband let alone becoming pregnant (to relate put yourself in either ones place). “And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”” (Genesis 18:13–14)

 “‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You.” (Jeremiah 32:17) Jeremiah and all Israel and Judah were about to be taken away captive to another land; for them the possibility of ever seeing home again was hopeless. Yet God instructed Jeremiah to purchase land in Israel (Benjamin Jer. 32:6-8) before they were taken away ultimately indicating what even Jeremiah still had to learn – nothing, including returning the people to their homeland was impossible for Him.

“And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”” (Matthew 19:24–26) The greatest impossibility of all (for men) is to gain eternal life or to please God by any human effort; yet the message continues to be proclaimed and people continue to be saved today because salvation is of God and only possible through faith in His Son.

Each of these verses shows that nothing is EVER impossible with the God who formed the heavens and the earth along with everything that dwells upon it. But beyond the mundane and everyday things, there remain many things which are absolutely impossible for those who attempt anything without God. That is what Jesus later declares in (John 15:5):

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

Paul declared in (Philippians 4:13): “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

We cannot do anything – we cannot overcome addictions and be set free from their curse on our own. Not only that but, though many people try, we cannot be saved on our own or by our works and good deeds. Doing more good than bad will not tip the scales in your favor when God judges men in the last day. We struggle against so many things and cry out “why can’t I stop!” If that describes you today, the answer is simple – stop trying to do in your own power what God wants to do for you (and has already made available to you through His Son Jesus Christ!)!

Put first things first – believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved! (Acts 16:31)

Some of you may be thinking, “wait a minute Pastor, I do believe; I am already saved!” Alright, but are you trusting Him to set you free from your addiction or whatever it may be with which you struggle? If you are a believer today, the Bible declares that God’s Holy Spirit now lives in you (1 Cor. 3:16). He not only confirms the fact that you are a child of God to your spirit (Romans 8:16) but He convicts you of sin (John 16:8) and He enables you to overcome it (Galatians 5:16). The Spirit supplies everything we need to live a life that pleases God. In that effort, we do have a part; we can either fight against Him and risk quenching or grieving Him as we willingly disobey or return to things that we KNOW are harmful to us and our life in Christ; or we can cooperate with Him and day by day have victory over those same things.

But the reason God does the impossible may surprise you – He does it to get glory for Himself. (John 15:7-8):

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”

God is glorified when through Him we are victorious; this is what Jesus was pointing at in (Matthew 5:16) when He said to believers:

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

When God does the impossible in us people notice. When we live for Jesus, people notice; especially when they feel the effects of the change.

What is your impossible?

Throughout the scriptures, God did the impossible through the most unlikely people, through David He killed a giant, through a virgin He brought forth His Son, the Savior of the world, and through some fishermen, a zealot and a tax collector He sent a message that 2000 years later is still being heard. What is the impossible in your life that you are praying to Him about? He has not changed and He still hears both His children when they pray and a sinner crying out to be saved. He will hear you….

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Jesus Christ – Our Refuge in Strange and Uncharted Waters

At the start of the year, as Covid-19 began to wrap itself around our lives, realities and futures; choking the life out of life for some of us, I read a book by Oswald Chambers titled, Our Ultimate Refuge. Five months later, as I re- read the book of Job, I am also revisiting the book written in a time not so different than our own. The nightly talks given to the men at the Imperial School of Instruction in the spring of 1917 which later became the source material of the book were given approximately 9 months before another global pandemic – the Spanish Flu, would sweep the globe on the heels of the end of the first world war.

The following is a quote from the publishers forward in the book:

“Chambers presents God as not only our ultimate refuge, but our only refuge. With characteristic insight he discusses our myths of self-sufficiency and eternal optimism, revealing their inadequacy when faced with the destruction of all that human-kind values. Only with that sense of ultimate and utter loss do we come to admit that all we have is God.”

First, let me say that this article is NOT a book report; the reason I am sharing a few snippets with you is that once again mankind (not just Americans) is buffeted by circumstances mostly outside of our control. The current pandemic and the sense that the whole world has jumped upon the crazy train has shaken OUR own sense (or myth) of self-sufficiency and eternal optimism to its very core.

My question to you is, how are YOU handling this situation?

What are you doing in these uncharted waters? How are you responding to something you’ve never experienced before? Human beings only seem to have two gears for putting power into motion in their lives when under stress of any kind – fight or flight; run head first into the fray and do your level best to overcome what is trying to overcome you or, recognize that the fray is too much for you and attempt to flee from it. My usual response to things I don’t understand or feel ill equipped to handle is procrastination but, in this case, delaying how you’ll respond or trying to avoid the issue all together is NOT going to help at all. Fighting won’t help either, when it comes to something we know NOTHING about, and fleeing is equally futile. The problem with both is that fight or flight draws on OUR power, ability and determination to overcome a situation rather than on God.

I understand that most people want their pastor, preacher or spiritual leader to be perfect; some would say that if they are not perfect, they have no right to speak on spiritual matters. First let me be clear, the ONLY perfect spiritual leader was and is Jesus Christ, no pastor that ever served in ANY capacity anywhere has ever been “perfect!” We have flaws. We fail. I will tell you that as these last several month have unfolded, what with Covid19, the ineptitude of both the “experts” and our political leaders as to how to combat the virus and the upside-downness (I know it’s not a word) of a society which is now happy to “call (every) good evil and (every) evil good;” (Isaiah 5:20) I have allowed bitterness to creep up in me.  I have allowed anger and despair to overcome (at times) my peace and hope. You see, human beings by nature only look to themselves in times like these and when they do, they fall disastrously short of victory; not so for the son or daughter of God but sometimes we fail. Chambers wrote:

“There are people today who are going through an onslaught of destruction that paralyzes all our platitudes and preaching; the ONLY thing that will bring relief is the consolation of Christ. It is a good thing to feel our own powerlessness in the face of destruction; it makes us KNOW how much we (do or do not) depend on God.”

The spiritual human and carnal Christian may declare, “God is my co-pilot” as if to say that “I got this until I don’t and then Jesus can take the wheel;” but the believer for whom God is their ONLY REFUGE sees God as their pilot, captain and driver – to him or her, He is the Lord seated on the throne of their life. But sometimes, when the storm is especially dreadful, some followers of Christ, like the disciples before them (Mark 4:35-41) may find themselves doing whatever THEY can to stay afloat, only crying out to God in prayer when their best efforts fail, but victory is available to all who believe on and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ!

Speaking of victory, what would victory look like for you in times like these? A rebounded and robust economy? A vaccine to end the Corona virus? An end to the upheaval and violence of anarchists which is ruining our cities, disturbing the peace and weakening our nation? An end to “social injustice?”   I’m sorry, but if the economy, the virus, the violence or the “injustice” is all that’s on your mind – YOU are MISSING the big picture.

I’m going to leave this here:

“…it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment…” (Hebrews 9:27)

There is more to the passage from which the above quote is taken, but the point is clear – death will come to each of us one day and in that day, your 401k, your health, your wealth, the unrest of this world and EVERY form of injustice will no longer matter AT ALL! The Apostle Paul wrote, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” (1 Timothy 6:7); we fear death, disruption of peace, health and safety, we fear poverty but there are SO many people who do not “fear Him who has power to cast into hell” (Luke 12:5).  Now is the time to address the one elephant in the room which if not addressed now you may never be able to address again – the eternal destination of your soul and what to do about Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God!

Jesus said that life is NOT about what you eat or what you put on (Luke 12:22-23) its about MORE than that, and while the meaning or purpose of life has as many definitions as it does definers, life in my mind has one purpose – it is the time we are given to make the decision of a lifetime: to believe in Jesus Christ and then to live accordingly. My friends, we can get wound up by all that is happening around us or we can see ourselves as God sees us (as sinners) and then call on Him who died in our place, for our sins and receive the gracious gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10).

If you’re reading this and sense the Lord drawing you to trust in Him, consider, “…now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Don’t let this time pass you by…

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Make it Personal

“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

In the post titled, my-journey-gazing-into-the-mirror-of-my-soul/ I wrote that repentance is to be the first part of any persons conversion and salvation experience; specifically that repentance which stems from the Holy Spirit of God interacting with our conscience and drawing us to a point of agreement with God concerning our sinful and rebellious nature and convicting us both of our lack of and of our need for Him. But there is actually something else which MUST occur even BEFORE such a drawing can take place – the preaching of the gospel is the foremost need of every unbelieving soul. Concerning the unbelieving of Israel, the apostle Paul wrote in (Romans 10:14-15):

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?”

The need of the Israelites to hear the truth concerning Jesus Christ before they could trust in Him is the very same need of every living soul – those who have believed in Jesus Christ need to share the vital and lifechanging truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who have not yet heard or believed it.

But what is the gospel?

The gospel IS NOT that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin – though He was.

The gospel IS NOT that Jesus Christ is the Son of God – though He is!

The gospel IS that Jesus Christ died for sinners – which every person who ever lived is! (with the exception of Jesus Christ [see Hebrews 4:15])

The passage I quoted at the beginning of this post from (Isaiah 53) comes from that larger statement made about Jesus Christ, the “Suffering Servant” of God. It states that He was wounded, bruised and chastised for us – for our transgressions, our iniquities and for our peace. Thus it seems to me, that until a person understands that Jesus died for him or her and that His death was our deserved condemnation (see Romans 8:1,5) and until they truly understand that they share responsibility for His brutalization, mockery, suffering and death – they have NOT “received” the gospel.

To understand that before Christ a person is “dead in trespasses and sin” (Ephesians 2:1) is a start but repentance begins with realizing that Jesus Christ “died for me.” Don’t make that statement so sentimental that you lose sight of its meaning; it is true that God sent His Son to die from a heart of love (see John 3:16) and while it is important that we make what Jesus did personal – the fact that He died (and rose again) is the most important aspect of the gospel message!

He was bruised for MY iniquity. He was mangled for MY sin. He was chastised – rebuked, disciplined corrected and ultimately rejected for my transgressions against the only Holy God! He bled because of ME!!! He was spit upon because of ME!!! He was mocked because of ME and He died on the cross of Calvary because of ME – for MY sake!!! He rose again in victory and because He rose, through faith in Him, once day I will rise as well and even now, I have victory in Jesus – “by His stripes we are (I am) healed!!!”

Make that personal!

A.W Tozer once defined repentance in this way:

“Repentance is mainly remorse for the share we had in the revolt that wounded Jesus Christ our Lord” – remorse which changes our mind concerning ourselves, our sin and our God; this is the kind of “godly sorrow” which leads to repentance.

The good news – the gospel of Jesus Christ is that “by His stripes we are healed!” Jesus’ suffering, as Tozer put it, “did not end in suffering, it began in suffering and ended in (our) healing.” What anyone coming to Christ must understand in order to be saved really comes down to what Paul said of himself in (1 Timothy 1 :15):

“…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

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Just How Good is “Good Enough?”

There once was a man who came to Jesus asking the question of all questions. The man was young, wealthy, spiritual and yet aware that he lacked something of great spiritual importance; this was his question:

“Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”” (Luke 18:18)

Now, it is assumed that this man presided over a synagogue nearby and that he had heard Jesus speak certain parables about faith (Luke 18:1-8) and humility (Luke 18:9-14) and who had seen Him bless the children (Luke 18:15-17). Unlike the Pharisees and Scribes who always came at Jesus with the intent of discrediting Him or catching Him in some heresy or religious error, this man with apparently good intentions came to ask Jesus a question that of vital importance to him.

But Jesus knew this man perfectly, just as he knows each of us perfectly. He knew the religious background of this man and after correcting the man to understand that (v.19) “NO ONE is good but God,” Jesus zeroed in on the little verb “do” in the man’s question and said:

“You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” (Luke 18:20)

The mans reply is a familiar one,

“…he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”” (Luke 18:21)

Recognize the answer? I can’t tell you how many times I have spoken to someone about the Lord and about sin when they replied, “I haven’t killed anyone. I haven’t stolen anything or committed adultery;” among other things. But if God is the only one who is good, does the doing or not doing of any of those good things make one fit for the kingdom of God – a person who God MUST accept? A. W. Tozer put it like this: If doing good is the way to obtain eternal life, “just how good would that good have to be?”

The religious and moral man saw himself as a good man but, if his question was an honest one, he seemed to think that he still lacked something to make him acceptable and in fact he DID lack something but as to what, he was unsure.

Jesus, using the man’s logic took him a little further saying,

“You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”” (Luke 18:22)

Jesus was NOT giving credence to the mans notion that DOING good would gain for him eternal life (despite what some dispensationalists might suggest) but rather pointing to the one thing which stood between the man and Almighty God – wealth. The last verse in the section makes clear that the man was “rich” or “had great possessions” (Matthew 19:22); he in fact had an idol which (v.23) indicates he loved more than God. In reality, this man neither “loved the Lord his God with all his heart soul mind and strength” nor “his neighbor as himself” – he loved his possessions.

To be fair, love for God does NOT save you – His love for YOU does! The Bible says in (1 John 4:19) “we love Him because He first loved us.” Jesus Himself declared in (John 3:16), “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” We are saved by grace through faith, Paul wrote in (Ephesians 2:8-10) and from His cross, by His blood, Jesus exchanged His righteousness for every believer’s sin (Isaiah 53:6, 2 Corinthians 5:21). As someone once said, “Jesus Christ will NEVER stand at the right side of a plus sign!” It is not faith in Jesus plus good works that saves you and gains for you an eternal inheritance in heaven – it is faith in Jesus Christ alone!

When his idol was revealed to the man, the “rich young ruler” walked away from Jesus unwilling to part with the one thing that kept him from eternal life with God. He didn’t need to DO one more thing – He needed to BELIEVE in Jesus Christ! Is there something in YOUR life that is keeping you from eternal life as well; something you just can’t let go of? If you do but can’t turn loose of it, pray, call on the Lord to help you – to take it from you. To the religious and the irreligious the message is the same – turn from your idols and trust in the living God; eternal life is gained in only one way – only through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

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Seek to Know Him

Most people know what hearsay is – it is the repeating of something someone else heard another person say to someone else. It’s a lot like gossip and it is inadmissible in a court of law.

A. W. Tozer once wrote: “There are many in the churches of our day who talk some of the Christian language but who know God only by hearsay.” Continuing he wrote, “Most of them have read something about God but their own personal knowledge of God is very slight.” They are satisfied in hearing with out doing and letting someone else seek, find and then tell them about it.

May I ask, does that describe you, the reader today? It’s important even in this season when we focus on the incarnation of Christ to ask ourselves the hard questions. Do you know the Lord? Is your faith built on your experience or someone elses?

In the gospel of John (chapter 4) we read of a woman, an outcast in her community really who encountered Jesus one day beside a well. Without ever having met her before He told her (v29) “all things that (she) ever did.” She was so excited that she went back to her community and invited them to “come and see Him.”

At first, the Bible says, “many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of” what she had told them (v. 39). Later, after an extended visit with the Lord Jesus they said to the woman, (v. 42) “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him, and we KNOW that He is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world!“

Listen, no ones faith but your own can save you; not your wife’s, husband’s, parent’s or pastors faith can save you – hearsay faith is as inadmissible (even more so these days) in the court of the Lord as it is the court of man!

Don’t settle for it.

Don’t settle for a hearsay religion! Seek Him! Earnestly grope or grasp (Acts 17:26-27) for Him! He will be found, known and experienced by those who “seek Him with ALL of their hearts.” (Jeremiah 29:13)

To know Him, seek Him…

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