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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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The Day In-between

In Israel, it was a day like no other – the celebration of Passover had begun.

The remembrance of God’s mighty deliverance of their ancestors from bondage in Egypt involved a perfect lamb (one per household), unleavened bread, bitter herbs and covering blood. Each element is significant as God instructed Moses in (Exodus 12) and the people of God, who upon the first Passover did as He had instructed concerning the blood of the lamb, were passed over by the death angel who was to execute judgment on the first born of Egypt.

As they observed the solemn occasion, the Lamb which God had prepared for them, already killed, His blood already shed for their deliverance had been placed in a newly hewn grave near the place where He had been crucified. (John 19:38-42) Meanwhile, the celebration continued; but I wonder what those days were like for those who had followed their friend Jesus for a little over 3 years.

In considering the question, I thought about my greatest human loss to this date – the death and burial of my mother. I remember watching (as it were) the world passing by outside the windows of the chapel where we were remembering her life asking myself, “Don’t you know what is happening here? My mom is gone and you’re all carrying on as if it doesn’t matter!” My world had stopped turning. Grief skewed my mind from seeing anything but my loss. I am sure that it was a similar grief which consumed Jesus’ closest followers the day after He had been brutally killed.

The day in-between is only known to we who have the benefit of hindsight – we know how it turned out but His followers, though they had believed in Him, were not so sure that He would rise on the third day as He had promised (Matt. 17:22-23, Mark 10: 33-34, Luke 18:31-33). For them it was their first full day without Him and their grief was profound. You and I have never longed for Him as they who had seen and experienced Him face to face were longing for Him on the day in-between.

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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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The Perspective of the Sacrifical Lamb

“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die. The people answered Him, “We have heard from the law that the Christ remains forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them.” (John 12:27–36, NKJV)

I imagine that the Jewish celebration of Passover looked very different to the sacrificial lamb.  To the people attending it was more or less a time to celebrate God’s mercy in delivering them from their bondage in Egypt. There was laughing, and eating, and catching up with old friends (since this feast required every Jewish male over the age of 12); there was the ritual of remembering and there was the ceremonial sacrifice of a lamb as the Lord had instructed Moses nearly 1400 years earlier. Of that lamb, the Bible says in [Ex. 12:3, 5-8]:

“Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household.” “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.”

You might say that until that little lamb was killed that it had no idea it was going to suffer or why – not so with Jesus Christ whom John the Baptist declared in [John 1:29] to be “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Jesus knew that He was coming into Jerusalem to die and He knew why; nevertheless, He said in [v.27] “My soul is troubled.”

Suffering Soul…

As we come to this passage the Lord Jesus had already arrived in the city for the most important Passover ever to be celebrated. Jesus was teaching great truths about Himself and about true discipleship (see vs. 23-26) when He declared that His soul was troubled or agitated. Unlike the sacrificial lamb which was bred for the very purpose of dying but never knew it, Jesus knew that His mission from God would involve His death from the beginning. The Bible declares Him in [Rev.13:8] to be “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” which is to say that before time had begun to tick away it had been understood that mankind would sin and that Jesus Christ would die to redeem sinful men.

Even though Jesus knew that He would have to “suffer and rise on the third day” (Luke 24:46) fulfilling all scripture and ushering in the way of repentance and remission of sins – He was still a man. 

This is the tension of the duel nature of Jesus Christ – fully God and fully man; Almighty God has never feared or been afraid but what man has not feared or trembled or at least been grieved by circumstances which they knew could not be avoided?

Who among us has never known fear, or trouble or grief?

Did Jesus fear the cross?  No! Did He fear death?  No! Did He fear our tormentor Satan? No! Was He afraid of anything man could do to Him? No! I believe that the Lord was troubled by at least two things, the most important of which was the separation from His Father which He would experience from His cross. We have the promise of [Hebrews 13:5-6] which declare:

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?””

But we have that promise because of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross – He endured the forsaking of God (see Matt. 27:46) and I think that His foreknowledge about that moment troubled His soul. That, and if I may be so bold, the fact that mankind was so unworthy of His sacrifice – He knew that the majority of those for whom He had come would not believe in or turn to Him.

Nevertheless, He was resolved – this was the mission He came to complete; it was His Father’s will and Jesus would be faithful to complete it.

Suffering’s Purpose…

[v.28-31] “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.” Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.”

The purpose of the Lord’s suffering is in many ways unique to Him in the sense that no one else has or ever will give his or her life for the redemption of all mankind.

Jesus was in Jerusalem for a fight. At His disposal were all the angels of heaven and the limitless power of His deity and yet the weapons of His warfare were a whip, a crown of thorns, three nails, a hammer and a cross all to which He willingly submitted Himself. Not one of those things did He wield against the “ruler of this world.” Simply because there was no power in the whip, the crown, the nails, the hammer or the cross but there is power in His blood!!! By His blood, He redeems! By His blood, He overwhelmed the enemy!!! By His blood, He forgives!!! By His blood, He sets captives free!!! By His blood, Satan is defeated and by His blood, the world owned and controlled by Satan is and will be judged!!!

Jesus won the fight for the souls of men by His death and by His rising again from the dead!

The Lord’s sufferings were also unique in that no other man or woman could ever glorify the name of God or restore the honor due His name which had been trampled upon by mankind’s many sins – but Jesus could restore the honor and fulfill the righteous requirement of God’s justice. He glorified the name of His Father among men through His willing obedience and humility and He would soon glorify it again in paying the debt of men owed to God on account of their disobedience, pride and sin – He would pay it completely.

Suffering’s Platform…

[v.32-33.] “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” This He said, signifying by what death He would die.”

The cross was many things – an instrument of torture, an agonizing and humiliating form of capital punishment, a spectacle to be seen and a platform from which the glory of God and the story of the gospel is declared to the world.

The word used in (v.32) for lifted up is the (GK) word – hupsŏō which actually speaks to two truths of the cross; it speaks to the actual elevating of a person from the ground such as is done in crucifixion but it also speaks of exaltation. Both of these truths are fulfilled in Jesus – He has been crucified and He is exalted by all who believe today and one day (soon to come, I think) He will be exalted by all people!!! It is because of His cross that Jesus is given a name that is above every name (Phil. 2:9-11) and the eventual reverence of all mankind – willing or not.

Those to whom He was speaking expressed consternation and maybe even doubt at the Lord’s insinuation that He who presented Himself as the Son of Man would die – they asked “who is this Son of Man?” Daniel taught that the “Son of Man” whom they were to expect would be as everlasting (see Dan. 7:13-14) as the Kingdom He was establishing but Jesus implied that He would have to die first. Their misunderstanding ultimately led to Israel’s rejection of their Messiah as Isaiah the prophet foretold in (Isaiah 53:1) concerning Jesus: “Who has believed our report? And to whom has the Arm of the Lord been revealed?” To them Jesus said:

“While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” (John 12:36, NKJV)

Since His ascension the people for whom Jesus was sent have walked in the blindness of their rejection of Him and the eyes of many gentiles (like you and me) have been opened to see and believe in Him but there is a day coming when “the light of the world” (John 8:12) will return to dwell among mankind and at that time (Zech 12:10):

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”

Then they will see the light and believe.

In our day, the fact is that Jesus Christ on His cross draws the attention of many people. It causes them to ask questions like “why did this happen?” or “how could God allow the innocent to die?” It leads to even bigger questions once we realize that His death was not for His sins but for ours – questions that lead to forgiveness, reconciliation with God, the salvation of our souls and eternally changed lives. All of this because He was lifted up and since He was the attention of every generation of people in the world to this day has been drawn to His suffering on the cross.

Have you seen the light and believed?

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Not Soon Shaken

“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:1–4)

Last Sunday morning, about an hour before church it was announced by a major news outlet that Russia had placed their nuclear forces on high alert. The scenario which has been the subject of many movies rose up to be a clear and present danger to the future of the world – at least to those reporting the announcement who stated to their audience that “today would be a good day to go to church.” Many things went through my mind as I considered the implications for the world and I reviewed the scriptures which assure us that whatever mankind may do to destroy itself, those things do not affect the time line and plan of God for the events which will culminate in the end of the world as we know it and the beginning of the new heaven and new earth prophesied by (Revelation 21:1).  I’d like to spend a little time with you, reviewing these passages so that you may find strength in God for the times of trouble which we find ourselves in now and for future times of trouble.

I’d begin with the following statement:

The followers of Christ should be anchor points in our world, people who are found to be strong and at peace while others around them are panicking and shaken by the events and circumstances unfolding before our eyes.

Why?

First, we are to be so strong because our hope is tethered to heaven itself (Heb. 6:19-20):

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:19–20)

Not only does Jesus secure our eternal inheritance so that no matter what may happen on earth below we are eternally connected to God in heaven but we also have God’s promise and faithfulness to keep it and all His promises reinforcing our hope (or confident expectation) of our final salvation in Christ Jesus.

Secondly, we have God’s word which tells us what to expect in the days leading up to the end of all things and the new beginning promised in Revelation. To begin with we have this word found in (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18):

“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

We have a promise from the scripture that those who believe in Jesus will not see the wrath which is to come upon the whole earth (Thessalonians 1:8b–10): “For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”  Instead, and before His wrath begins to be vented upon the people of the world through the Great Tribulation spoken of in Revelation, “we who are alive and remain shall be caught up…” or “raptured” literally taken out of this world like Enoch (see Gen. 5:24). This event could happen at any time but until it does, no matter what threats to human existence may arise, the wrath of God upon mankind leading to God’s great reset of all things will not occur.

In addition, the text we began with also offers us a few “conditions” which will have to be fulfilled as well before those days come to pass:

  • Apostasy – (v.3a) “the falling away.” This falling away is not a reference to moral decline of the world but rather to the moral and spiritual decline of the church. It is literally a departure from the faith and the word of God (1 Tim. 4:1):

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons…”

             This “departure” is already occurring as professing Christians willfully ignore and or turn away from Biblical truth and toward the false teachers and teachings which are flourishing today:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” (2 Timothy 4:3–4)

  • The appearance of Anti-Christ – (v.3b) “the man of sin is revealed.” Possessing the qualities of the “son of perdition” which is a reference to the other great betrayer of Jesus Christ – Judas (see John 17:12) who worked deceitfully against the plan of God in Christ Jesus; anti-Christ will “oppose God” and like Satan before him, “exalt himself…above God.” In the Old Testament, the description found here is used of Antiochus Epiphanes (Daniel 11:36–37):

“Then the king shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all.”

 While the “spirit of anti-Christ” (1 John 4:2-3) has been present since the days during which Jesus did His work among men for their redemption, Anti-Christ has not yet been revealed nor has  the temple been rebuilt in which he will sit pretending to be God.

  • That which is restraining must be taken away (2 Timothy 4:5-8): “Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.”  Many suggestions have been made as to who or what the restrainer of anti-Christ is and the lack of anything more than Paul’s words in (v.6) “you know what is restraining” makes it impossible for us to be dogmatic about the point.  

I believe that the Holy Spirit is the restrainer; I also believe that when the church is raptured, the Holy Spirit who works through the church, the proclamation of the Gospel and specifically through every Christian to counter and restrain both the spirit of anti-Christ as well as the Anti-Christ himself will be depart. Whatever the case, it is clear that God is in control of the one who restrains as well as his removal. After His departure, lawlessness will abound and the man of lawlessness will be revealed and because “those who are perishing” did not “receive a love of the truth that they might be saved,” (vv.9-10) “God will send them strong delusion (v.11) that they should believe the lie.” The lie being that the Anti-Christ is God.

We also have a series of events which Jesus identified in (Matt. 24) as things which will happen (v.14) “before the end will come.” False teachers, (v.5), “wars and rumors of wars” (v.6), international conflict (v.7), “famines, pestilences (plagues), and earthquakes (v.7) are all “the beginning of sorrows” (v.8). Next, the severe and extensive persecution of Christ followers (v. 10), more false teachers (deceivers) (v.11) and lawlessness leading to Christian lovelessness (v.12), along with the global proclamation of the gospel (v13) will take place before the end will come.

If we believe these words, we will be unshakable in the face of such events because of the promises of God to we who believe.

But what about the timing of these events?

Consider the words of Jesus in (Matt. 24:32-44):

“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Much can be said of this, suffice it to say that we live in times like the days of Noah – days characterized by weddings, celebrations and the routine of regular living along with a willful ignoring of God, His Son, His Spirit, His preacher and the proclamations found in His word. If we see (v.40-41) from the lens of Noah’s flood then we understand that those taken are taken in death (or judgment) and those who are left remain safe in Jesus Christ. The simple fact is that while we get hints of the nearness of the end of all things and the beginning of a new heaven and new earth upon which all who believe in Jesus Christ will dwell forever with God – we do not know when He is coming and the best we can be is (v.44) “ready.” Only after we are ready can we help others to be ready as well.

As I thought about these things last Sunday, I entertained another thought; I wondered whether or not, given their current situation, and life threatening circumstances Ukrainian Christians would scoff at, doubt , deny or discount the truths we are considering. Would fear control them or would faith in Jesus keep them strong? Would their response to these words be different than ours as we discuss them in comfort and safety?

I doubt that believers, tethered to heaven by faith in Christ Jesus would discount or deny these truths – I believe they would be rather, strengthened by them. But they did not come to be so resolved either for their God or their nation over night.

It occurs to me that readiness for the return of Christ and the patience to endure whatever hardship while waiting for His coming is not to be a last-minute consideration and that being resolved to cling to the “anchor of our souls” so that we would “not be soon shaken” by the things happening around us needs to be decided BEFORE those days come!

“For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2–10)

Are you ready?

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Who is Jesus? The Objective Truth

In a search for cover art for my thoughts today I came across many which , instead of a statement asked, “Who is Jesus to you?” At first blush, I wanted to dismiss this question out of hand; I mean, is the identity of Jesus Christ really just a subjective summation of a person determined by our own suppositions, preclusions and pre-conceived notions?

There is objective truth to answer the question of who Jesus is but in order to get to it a person has to accept that there is also only one authority on the subject – the Bible. “But wait,” some would object, “after all wasn’t the Bible written by men? What makes their opinion the end all to the question?” The Bible itself answers even that question – can you accept it? The answer is found in (2 Timothy 3:16-17):

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

That the words are inspired require an instigator of inspiration and that instigator is the Holy Spirit of God (see 2 Peter 1:20-21). Everything given to us to know about Jesus Christ is found in the Bible, a book written by God through the hand of prophets, priests, tax collectors, fishermen, and even an ex-Pharisee. Some of these men were also eye-witnesses of the ministry of Jesus Christ as well as of His death burial and resurrection but the Holy Spirit, who provided the inspiration and is co-author of every word in the Bible, as eternal and intrinsically connected to both the Father and the Son is eyewitness to everything pertaining to Jesus from eternity past to this very moment. In essence, God Himself testifies in the Bible, declaring who Jesus is.

Did you know that not every self-declared Christian agrees with the Bible, let alone with each other about Jesus? Jehovah Witnesses for instance, believe that Jesus is inferior to or less than God having been created by God rather than being co-heir, co-creator and co-eternal with God. It is really this point about Jesus that I would like to address: Is Jesus God?

What do the scriptures say?

In prophetic literature we read of the coming of Jesus Christ in books like (Micah 5:2):

““But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.”“

Here we see God the Father declaring the eternality of the One (a reference to Jesus His Son) coming forth to Him from Bethlehem. What does Isaiah the prophet Isaiah say about the Son of God then yet to be born in Bethlehem?

“For unto us a Child is born,Unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. and His name will be called: Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

Again, in Isaiah 7:9 the Bible says:

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

Allowing the Bible to teach the Bible, what does the name Immanuel mean? ““Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”” (Matthew 1:23) In the New Testament we also read in (Hebrews 1:1-12):

“God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. for to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, today I have begotten You”? And again:“ I will be to Him a Father,And He shall be to Me a Son”? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” And of the angels He says:“ Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.” But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” And: “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail.””

Was Jesus a good man as some have said? Yes. Was He a great man? Yes. Was He a good teacher? A Rabbi? Or as eventhe Muslims say, a prophet? Yes, yes and yes. Was and is He MORE than those things? Without a doubt!!! Jesus said, “He who has seen Me, has seen the Father.” (John 14:9) Jesus said, “I and My Father are One.” (John 10:30) Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am;” (John 8:58) this also being a reference to the unique name of God: YHWH also speaking to the eternality of Jesus. Beyond that we read in (John 1:1-3):

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

Can the Creator create Himself? Yet the Bible declares not only His eternal equality with God but also that Jesus at creation made all things. Passages like (Philippians 2:5-11 and Colossians 1:15-18) likewise point to Jesus’ deity.

Jesus is God – He has a divine nature, so says the Bible but is that ALL that Jesus is? God’s don’t die and Jesus, as we have learned is eternal – He is as His Father is: from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 90:2). In order to “reveal God to men” as Ryrie wrote and to “provide us with an example for godly living” as well as to be the sacrfice for sin (see John 1:18. 1 Peter 2:21 and Hebrews 10:1-10) Jesus was also 100% man. In other words, Jesus had two natures: he was all man as well as all God. To be our Savior he set aside His rights as God rather then ceasing to be God (see Phil. 2:5-11) He was in the “form of God” but for our sakes He took on ” the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.”

Regardless of our personal beliefs, descriptions, preconceived notions or understandings there is ONE OBJECTIVE TRUTH concerning who Jesus is; this truth is foundational to the Christian faith and a failure to believe that truth or a rejection of that truth about Jesus is to build a faith on a faulty foundation. “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17) – the word of God declares who Jesus is and what He has done for your sake and mine; hear that word and believe. Does it matter if you believe that Jesus was less than God, a created being, a mere man or rather that He is equal with God, co-heir, co-creator and co-eternal with God? It matters as much (in that it as distinctly different) as day or night, darkness or light and life or death.

What you believe about the objective truth concerning Jesus Christ does not change it but your belief holds profound implications for you. Think about it…..

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The Outpouring of Christian Worship

“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.” (Psalm 95:1–7, NKJV)

What is worship?

What is worship to you?

Is worship what we do when we come together on Sunday or is it the entirety of what we do as believers? Is worship that part of the service when we sing songs about God together or is worship something we do for God?

The dictionary defines worship as an act of devotion and reverence towards a deity; the Bible identifies the act as the worth-ship of God and the whole duty of man (Eccl.12:13). Worship is an outpouring of love toward Him who has made all things, provided for all things and sustained all things and continues to do so.  We worship God through our giving, through serving others, through songs and hymns and spiritual songs and in listening to and obeying the Word of God preached and taught. It is for worship that we meet every week in church but our worship cannot and must not be limited to only the time we spend in this place. One man said, “worship is the overflow of a believer’s joy because of God – who He is and what He’s done” but in another sense, it is a seeking after something we need.

A few years ago, John Piper writing on the subject of worship suggested that worship should be our coming to God for Him. In the article, John wrote about a small group of believers who went to help a man in the community who was in great need. When the man asked those who had come why they were there their response was “we are here for you.” They were there to perform a service for the man – many, John suggested, come into church with the same mindset towards God in worship. But God needs nothing from us at all – it is we who are in need. John continued, “suppose the day upon which that small group went to serve the man was ridiculously hot and while they were doing the work a truck pulls up offering ice-cold, refreshing water and they run up to the window of the truck saying ‘we’re here for you;’” now we have come to the right mind of worship.

God does not need our worship but we need the God whom we worship. We add nothing to God when we lift up our hands in celebration of who He is; we simply give Him what He deserves because He is God but I think that God is pleased and glorified when those He loves express their love back to Him.

Worship Celebrates God…

[v.1-2] “Oh come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.”

I recently heard the testimony of a woman who had lost her young toddler in Disney World for an eternity of fifteen minutes. A thousand thoughts must have run through her head – what ifs and self-condemnation but she did not dwell on these; she prayed to God and God returned what she had lost. What was her response?

Tears of joy and praise to God for His mercy. Did she sing to Him? Probably not but did she shout out a heartfelt halleluiah? I imagine she did.

Worship is a many faceted thing and can be expressed in the songs we sing, the words we shout and through the action of our bodies. In life, worship is doing “whatever your hands find to do” (Eccl 9:10) or as the Apostle Paul put it, worship is doing “whatever you do, do all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10_31). We worship the Lord when we tithe, when we serve Him and when we serve others. The Book of Psalms bears witness to worship being something sung with or without instrumental accompaniment – in those days the people even worshipped the Lord with dancing (Psalm. 149:3 and 150:4). But the (HB) word used for singing in (v.1) can also be defined as a shout for joy to Him who is “the Rock of our salvation” and our source for help. Worship is coming before God’s face or “presence” and singing or shouting words like these found in [Psalm 96:1,4]:

“Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.”

But in order to celebrate God we must reflect upon His goodness.

Worship Requires Reflection…

[v.3-5] “For the Lord is the great God, And the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land.”

Worship requires eyes to recognize the presence of God.

In (Genesis 28:10-17) God had been with Jacob as he fled from his brother into the wilderness between Beersheba and Haran but Jacob did not know it until after he had seen a vision of God; then in [v 16-.17] he declared:

“Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

Likewise, the voice speaking to Moses from the burning bush awakened the prophet to the presence of God when he said [Ex.3:5]:

“Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.”

It is God who opens our eyes to God – we cannot recognize or discern the difference between the mundane and the supernatural without His intervention upon our sight. Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning once wrote: “Earth is crammed with heaven, and every common bush AFIRE with God – but only he who SEES takes off his shoes – the rest sit around it and pick blackberries.”

All of God’s creation declares Him and exalts Him. “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork” wrote the psalmist in [Psalm 19:1]. Paul, reflecting on our Creator wrote in [Romans 1:20]:

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,”

From Mount Everest to Death Valley and from Niagara Falls to the Mariana Trench – God made it all, God is present there and in control of it all; there is no place where God is not (see Psalm 139:7-18)

Recognizing the power, wisdom, grace, glory, holiness and sovereignty of God in worship leads us to ask with King David – “Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house that You have brought me this far?” [1 Chron 17:16]

Worship Communicates Thirst…

Worship is an expression of thirst for God

“O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. So, I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. Thus, I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.” [Psalm 63:1-5]

When you entered into the church on Sunday (for instance) what was your mindset? Did you come to church or did you come to worship? If you merely came to church you’ll probably be satisfied to leave pretty much as you came but if you came to worship you will not likely be satisfied until you have experienced God through His Word and until you have emptied yourself in praise at His altar.

To be clear, this article isn’t about worship styles and preferences this is about desire – true worshippers desire more God in their lives. What I mean is, they desire a deeper and closer connection with the Creator than they have. Consider this question:

“If you could have a happy marriage, healthy children, a successful career, good friends, fun vacations, a comfortable retirement, a painless death and no hell – would you be satisfied?”[i]

I would expect those who do not know or trust in the Lord to say that they’d be satisfied with such a life but can a true worshipper of God ever be satisfied with anything less than God? “O God, You are my God! Early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh logs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.”

Can you say, “O God, as long as You are with me it is well no matter what life may bring”?

Worship is an expression of our thirst for God. Thirst for His wisdom, love, guidance, power…

Worship Requires Relationship…

[v.6-7] “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand.”

Finally, worship requires relationship, otherwise it’s like putting the cart in front of the horse. One day, every knee will bow ad every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (see Phil. 2:11) but that worship is not relational. The worst of men will bow in that day in recognition of the Lord’s sovereignty but believers worship Him not only because He made us but because He is “our God.”

In a general sense, the Lord God provides for all people from His treasury – He gives each of us air to breath, life to live and I think, an opportunity to turn to Him through Jesus Christ. But it is only after we have come to trust in Jesus that we are able to worship in a way that is pleasing to God. John Newtons song comes to mind as I think of it:

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me; I once was lost, but now I am found, was blind but now I see.”

It is from the knowledge of God’s love and the application of God’s grace to our lives that we are able to worship the Lord for all He is worth. If worship is an overflow of our joy and delight in God as we reflect on His goodness, mercy and grace towards us then all worship is tied to the relationship we have with God through Jesus Christ.

All of this boils down to how desperate you were for God to intervene in your life in the first place. Those who have truly trusted in Jesus once upon a time realized that they were by nature desperate sinners, desperately wicked and doomed to destruction from birth because of their sin. But in time they learned that God loved them and Jesus died for them – then they called out to Him in their need and received the forgiveness of sin and newness of life through the Spirit by whom they now not only call God “Abba” but they also serve and praise the living God.

But there are those who came to Jesus for the wrong reasons too.

There are some who have said they came to Jesus because they did not want to go to hell. You might be thinking, “what’s wrong with that?” Consider it for a moment from God’s perspective,

“For a person to say that the main reason he or she came to Christ was to escape hell would be like a woman who said that the only reason she married her husband was to get away from her parents or like the man who said that he married his wife because he had a load of debt and she had money – I couldn’t think of any other way out of my debt so I married her.”

If you only came to Christ to have your sin debt paid and to avoid hell – you missed the point of His coming.

He came to give new life to every sinner who would trust in Him. Yes, He gave us a place in heaven. Yes, because of His grace and forgiveness we will not go to hell or taste the wrath of God. Yes, Jesus paid it all. But the new life that He gave is to the praise and glory of the Father – this is the goal, the aim and the chief end of man, to glorify in the flesh and the spirit (1 Cor. 6:20) Him who bought us with the price of Christ’s blood.

[i] Collin Smith

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“And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15-16

If I could share one piece of advice with every younger person I know it would be this: Every choice no matter how small it may seem to be is serious and significant – this is a principal of life. We live so carelessly….I know I did. I flew by the seat of my pants choosing and never considering the outcome of those choices until after the outcome was upon me and there was no turning back.

Of all the choices I have made….my choice to follow Christ is by far the best choice. While many of my choices early on in my life were bad they ultimately led to an intersection with the Savior.  When you come to THAT fork in the road…..choose Christ.

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The Value of Discipleship

“And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:40–47, NKJV)

The early church was not the formalized and formatted organism that as time went on it became; in the beginning it was a very organic and “real” collection of believers who met at various places for the purpose of worshipping God.

Interestingly the “public” worship of the Lord took place at the gates of the temple and involved the preaching of the Gospel of Christ where many people flocked to sincerely worship a God they did not really know; in essence casting a Gospel net into a place where they were likely to catch the most fish – a tactic which was daily rewarded (according to v.47) with a daily “catch” of new believers; that doesn’t at all look like “church” as we know it today.

Today we expect the “fish” to come to us instead.

But what are people drawn to today? In many churches it is the small group, the discipleship group and Bible studies at various people’s homes that seem to attract the lost. In those settings they can see the church without her make-up; they see believers interacting, laughing, sharing, crying, praying and learning together – they see the church as it was meant to be.

In the early church discipleship wasn’t mandated and didn’t have to be “sold” to people. Note Luke’s description of the church in [v.42]:

“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

Believers were hungry for the teaching of the Apostles – they wanted to hear about their experiences with Jesus, about His miracles – they hungered to know what the Lord said and taught.  I believe that in sharing these things the apostles could not help but to also share the character and nature of the Lord with the believers – the Apostles taught about a loving and gentle Savior and suffering Servant who gave up His life for the sake of the lost.

Before we paint too rosy a picture we must remember that the people who formed this new community of faith were still flesh and blood. They had things to overcome in their lives; even as they were coming to Christ they were being awakened by His Spirit to things in their lives that faith in Him would require them to “crucify” from their lives. If I could contemporize that community – some of them would be housewives whose husbands also spent the day away from them at their jobs or perhaps they were professional women of industry themselves; some of those men might be businessmen or blue collar workers; some might be truck drivers or salesmen; some might be soldiers spending months at a time away from all that they knew and loved.

The bottom line is this:  While each and every member of the community of faith (whether of the early church or our churches today) shares a set of core values, beliefs and experiences, each of us also has to figure out how to deal with bumps in the road specific to our individual duties or stations in life as the Word of God instructs.

What do we need when were apart from the community of faith doing that which we do day in and day out to provide for our families and to live our lives? What do we need when we are tempted to lash out in anger or shrink back in fear? What do we need when we cry out in frustration and despair? We need the Word of God and the help of His Spirit – most often that help takes the form of another believer walking with us – encouraging us, challenging us, exhorting us, praying with us; telling us that things we don’t necessarily want to hear but no less need to hear; someone to whom we can be accountable.

The Bible says in [prov. 27:17]:

“As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”

This is a powerful aphorism or maxim identifying the great benefit and value of having someone to walk beside us on our journey of faith and identifies one of the most personal settings for discipleship in the Bible.

Consider the first part of this analogy – how does iron sharpen iron?

I thought at first about the tools of a blacksmith – fire, hammer and anvil. For me the fire represents the trials and various situations of life; the hammer is our brother or sister in Christ which God the Father intends to use in the process of impacting our lives and the anvil is the Word of God – His expectations, commands and expressed will.  In our day to day life sometimes we are superheated by a situation – we are tempted to act or express an attitude that is contrary to God’s plan and our friend sees us or hears us and comes along side. God brings a passage to our friends mind and he begins to challenge our attitude with the word of God – he or she “speaks the truth to us in love;” as God tries to shape us into what He’d have us be or do in that situation.

Another way to see this is the way a knife used to be sharpened to carve the Thanksgiving Turkey (before the advent of electric knives): by file and blade. “It used to be common to see the host at a table sharpening the carving knife by drawing each side of the cutting edge against a hardened steel rod with fine ridges – iron sharpening iron. Sometimes it isn’t a temptation to evil or some other stress in your life but simply a misunderstanding of a particular Biblical principal that has you ‘mis-stepping’ in your Christian walk of faith. In such a situation, the “file”aka your spiritual companion might challenge you from their own understanding of the principal in question and in a sense sharpen your understanding through conversation and even criticism with regard to the subject.  

I personally enjoy talking about the Lord and His Word – I enjoy studying it with others and listening to other preachers and speakers share their understanding of a passage; often I learn something or have my understanding of something enhanced. Sometimes it is just refreshing to know that I’m not alone in my understanding of certain biblical text, principal or doctrine and sometimes I reject the teaching out of hand as errant. In any case it is always good to be able to discuss – not debate but discuss the Word of God. I don’t get much of that these days but when I do I enjoy it.

In my own life as a Christian, over the years, I have grown but let me tell you where I grew most. it wasn’t in the preaching service, it was in the Sunday school, the discipleship and in the seminary classes where we could talk it out. I’m sure you’ll discover the same if you’ll allow yourself to be involved in the opportunities which many churches (not all but many) offer for such growth.

Max Lucado reminds his readers in a book titled “On the Anvil” what one translation of [2 Tim. 2:21 ] says; there we read, that God intends for each of us to be

“An instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”

Lucado added the following thought:

“Ah to be your instrument O God, like Paul to the Gentiles, like Philip to the eunuch, like Jesus to the world, to be your instrument. To be like a scalpel in the gentle hands of a surgeon, healing and mending. To be like the plow in the weathered hands of the farmer, sowing and tending. To be like a scythe in the sweeping hands of the reaper, gathering and using. To be an instrument for noble purposes. To be honed and tuned, in sync with your will, to be sensitive to your touch. This my God is my prayer, draw me from the fire, form me on your anvil, shape me with your hands, let me be your tool..”

To be discipled in the larger setting of the church, the intimacy of a mentoring relationships or in a small group of believers all have one goal and purpose – so that each of us would become a useful tool in the Master’s hands.

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Alive or Just Here – How Will You Live in 2022?

Jack London once wrote, “the proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”

Think about those words for a moment.

What great thing was ever accomplished by those for whom the priority was to save their own skin? Consider for instance, Madame Currie who among other things, discovered radium and was a pioneer in the study of radioactive isotopes. Her efforts led ultimately to an illness which took her life but her discovery is still used today in the fight against cancer as an ingredient of Radon gas. Hers is one example if a life which was not wasted.

She epitomizes the phrase, “nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

As I write, I have another person in mind about whom it can be said that he lived and the life that he lived was not wasted. I read something about him yesterday on a marquee while travelling back from a day on the coast; the marquee read: “We use duct tape to fix everything – God used nails.” Of course the “man” the sign was referring to was Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God and points at the life of the God – man. Jesus has ALWAYS existed but not as a divine couch potato or otherwise uninvolved deity. He was born into the human race but existed before His birth; more than that He was born to die and He lived to set men free from their bondage to sin and eternal separation from God. He expended His 33 years of life for the sake of every human being. His life was not wasted and the life He lived, He lived unto God His Father. His life made an eternal difference.

London’s quote rings remarkably similar to something Jesus once said:

“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:24–26)

Jesus’ words here call us to a constant dying out to a way of life characterized by self-preservation at all costs and a coming alive to the will and purposes of God. In other words, He does not merely call those who follow Him to exist as Christians, He is calling them to live the life of a Christian. Foxe’s Book of Martyrs is full of what living like that can look like in the extreme. But even in the torment of the flames as some of those martyrs were burned for their faith in Jesus Christ, they looked, as Jesus did, to the joy that was set before them. As Jesus concluded His thoughts in that short passage He did so with a reminder that today’s choices carry eternal consequences.

As we enter into a New Year, it is important for each one of us to ask ourselves, “am I alive or just here?” Staring at our phones into the world of social media or watching the plethora of reality TV shows available on Netflix, YouTube, Prime or HGTV etc; are you spending more time watching others live their lives than you are living your own? Your answer will also cast light on the greater question of your life’s purpose. We have not been given life to merely be consumers of everything we see – we have been given life and especially spiritual life CHRISTIAN, to make a difference just like Jesus. Consider the words of Paul in light of his life in Christ:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

The new life that believers have is to be lived in a new way and for a new reason. Through His Holy Spirit, Jesus indwells every believer and sits on the throne of control that we once occupied and now our purpose is His plan and the accomplishing of His will. Did Paul occasionally deviate from the plan or attempt to retake control of his life? Any time we sin in essence, we are attempting to retake control of our lives and thus the need of a constant or of a daily dying out to our self-will is necessary.

Looking back on 2021, how did you do? Did you draw nearer to God or drift away a little or a lot? Much like a leaf driven by the wind on a pond’s surface is always moving, you and I are never stationary in our life of faith, we are always either drawing nearer to or moving further away from God. Has your faith become stronger in the wake of all that this last year has thrown your way or has it faltered. I ask because before we move forward we ought to take stock of where we’ve been and the lessons we learned or still need to learn for tomorrow. I have learned some hard lessons this year and still have some things to learn – God is patient. Once more, Paul offers us something to think about even as we enter into 2022, we find them in (Philippians 3:12-15):

“Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.”

Pressing on is the mindset which Paul expects every Christ follower to have as they set their faces to what lay ahead of them. But I invite you even now while keeping your eternal hope set firmly in your minds eye, that is the hope (or confidence) of seeing and dwelling with Jesus for eternity to live each day, one at a time for the purposes of God. Each day is as clean a slate as a New Year is and just as unknowable nevertheless press on – the prize is yet before us and the souls of friends, family, coworkers, and strangers hang in the balance. Draw nearer, press on and press into Him who has made abundant life available to you.

Happy New Year!

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