Friday, March 30, 2007

Resurrection? Prove It to Me


"Raised from the dead? Sure. Right. And I have a bridge I'd like to sell you."

That's how Thomas might have responded if he had lived in our day.

"Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." John 20:25

He'd seen dead people before. And Jesus was dead. He sounds like sophisticated rationalists of the Twenty-first Century. "It isn't plausible," they would contend. "It didn't happen."

But what if it did happen?

Thomas was convinced when Jesus appeared to him, reached out his hands to Thomas, and said, "Put your finger here."

Thomas dropped to his knees. "My Lord and my God!" John. 20: 27-28

It was self-hypnosis, you counter. The disciples wanted to believe that their Lord was not dead, so they just invented it out of whole cloth.

Really? Let's look at some of the evidence.

  1. Jesus' body was missing. If the Jews could have found it, they could have stilled the preaching of Jesus' resurrection that filled Jerusalem. But they could not.
  2. The body wasn't stolen. The Romans had no motive. The Jews had no motive. Ah-ha, you say, the disciples stole it. There is the matter of the Roman guards, and the disciples' initial disbelief when the women brought them the news early that Easter morning. This brings me to my third point.
  3. If the disciples had stolen the body, you wouldn't expect them to risk their lives. People don't die for what they know is not true. But the disciples put their lives on the line, and nearly all were eventually martyred for their faith. They certainly believed it.
  4. The church mushroomed size in Jerusalem, the very place he was crucified. Followers of Jesus in the city of Jerusalem grew from a few dozen to thousands upon thousands soon after Jesus' resurrection. They believed it was true.
  5. Contemporary documents refer to the event. Thallus the Samaritan, Suetonius, Tacitus, Pliny contain references to Jesus. Jewish historian Josephus writes about Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. They knew something had happened.

Jesus' resurrection from the dead is actually more plausible than any other explanation. That's why we Christians make such a big deal about Easter. That's why we celebrate.

Jesus' resurrection means that death is not the end. That though my body may lie mouldering in the ground, Jesus, whom the Father raised from the dead, gives me eternal life. Ultimately, we Christians believe, our bodies, too, will be raised from the dead.

And since Jesus is not dead, people can encounter him today.

You can know him through a personal relationship. I could point to lots of people who can testify what Jesus has done in their lives to bring them from the brink of disaster to peace and meaning and joy. He changes people for good and forever.

If you're not sure, or can't really say you've met this risen Jesus, then this Passover or Easter Season why don't you slip down upon your knees, right where you're at, and seek him.

And in the midst of our celebration, you'll find him for yourself.

He's alive, you know. That's what Easter is all about

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

THE DAYS OF NOAH

Hebrews 11:7 :By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.:

WE do well to give heed to the description given of the "days of Noah" for our Lord said, that as it was in those days, so shall it be in the days that close the present age (Mat 24:37-39). The world of that time had made great progress in the arts and civilization of life. But, as it has happened repeatedly all through human history, great luxury produced infamous immorality, cruelty, and widespread indifference to the claims of God. Things took place in those olden times which have their counterpart in the great cities of our time. In its feverish atmosphere sin of every kind abounded, and in mercy to the race, there was no alternative than to bring that wicked generation to an end. "They ate, they drank; they married, and were given in marriage, and knew not, till the flood came and carried them all away."Amidst all this, Noah lived an unblemished and righteous life. He walked in daily converse with God (Gen 6:8-9). His Almighty Friend was able to reveal to him His intentions. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant."Keep near to God, that you may hear the accents of His still small voice. Our happiest experience is when we walk with Him in unbroken fellowship, and He takes us into covenant with Himself. Through any one individual, whose heart is perfect toward Him, God will save others. We too shall cross the Flood of Death and enter the new life of Resurrection, but we must be quick to detect His voice, and our hands deft to fulfil the
revelations of our Divine Teacher and Friend.

PRAYER--Lead me, O Lord, in a straight way unto Thyself, and keep me in Thy grace unto the end. AMEN.

Devotion by F.B. Meyer

Thursday, March 15, 2007

A parable...

From Spurgeon's, "WHY ARE MEN SAVED?"

Once on a time, Mercy sat upon her snow-white throne,
surrounded by the troops of love. A sinner was brought before
her, whom Mercy designed to save. The herald blew the
trumpet, and after three blasts thereof; with a loud voice,
he said, "O heaven, and earth, and hell, I summon you this day
to come before the throne of Mercy, to tell why this sinner
should not be saved."

There stood the sinner trembling with fear; he knew that there
were multitudes of opponents, who would press into the hall of
Mercy, and with eyes full of wrath, would say, "He must not,
and he shall not escape; he must be lost!"

The trumpet was blown, and Mercy sat placidly on her throne,
until there stepped in one with a fiery countenance, his head was
covered with light, he spoke with a voice like thunder and out of
his eyes flashed lightning.

"Who are you?" said Mercy. He replied, "I am Law; the law of
God." "And what have you to say?" "I have this to say," and he
lifted up a stony tablet, written on both sides- "this wretch has
broken these ten commands. My demand is blood; for it is
written, 'The soul that sins, it shall die.' Die he, or justice must."

The wretch trembles, his knees knock together, the marrow of
his bones melts within him, as if they were dissolved by fire, and
he shakes with fright. Already he thought he saw the thunderbolt
launched at him, he saw the lightning penetrate into his soul, hell
yawned before him in imagination, and he thought himself cast
away forever.

But Mercy smiled, and said, "Law, I will answer you. This
wretch deserves to die; justice demands that he should perish -
I award you your claim." And oh! how the sinner trembles.
"But there is one yonder who has come with me today- my king,
my Lord, his name is Jesus, he will tell you how the debt can be
paid, and the sinner can go free."

Then Jesus spoke, and said, "O Mercy, I will do your bidding.
Take me Lord, put me in a garden, make me sweat drops of
blood, then nail me to a tree, scourge my back before you put
me to death; hang me on the cross; let blood run from my hands
and feet. Let me descend into the grave; let me pay all that the
sinner owes. I will die in his stead."

And the Law went out and scourged the Savior, nailed him
to the cross, and coming back with his face all bright with
satisfaction, stood again at the throne of Mercy, and Mercy said,
"Law, what have you now to say?" "Nothing," said he, "fair
angel, nothing." "What! not one of these commands against
him?" "No, not one. Jesus, his substitute, has kept them all- has
paid the penalty for his disobedience, and now, instead of his
condemnation, I demand as a debt of justice that he be
acquitted."

"Stand here," said Mercy, "sit on my throne; I and you together
will now send forth another summons."

The trumpet rang again. "Come hither, all you who have anything
to say against this sinner, why he should not be acquitted," and
up comes another - one who often troubled the sinner, one
who had a voice not so loud as that of the Law, but still piercing-
a voice whose whispers were like the cuttings of a dagger.
"Who are you?" says Mercy.

"I am Conscience, this sinner must be punished; he has done so
much against the law of God that he must be punished; I demand
it; and I will give him no rest till he is punished, nor even then, for
I will follow him even to the grave and persecute him after death
with pangs unutterable,"

"No," said Mercy, "Hear me" and while he paused for a
moment she took a bunch of hyssop and sprinkled Conscience
with the blood, saying "Hear me, Conscience- 'The blood of
Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin', Now have
you anything to say?"
"No," said Conscience, "nothing."
"Covered is his unrighteousness
From condemnation he is free."
"Henceforth I will not grieve him; I will be a good conscience
unto him, through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ."

The trumpet rang a third time, and growling from the innermost
vaults, up came a grim black fiend, with hate in his eyes, and
hellish majesty on his brows.

He is asked, "Have you anything against that sinner?" "Yes,"
said he, "I have- he has made a league with hell, and a covenant
with the grave, and here it is signed with his own hand. He asked
God to destroy his soul in a drunken fit, and vowed he would
never turn to God; see, here is his covenant with hell!"

"Let us look at it," said Mercy; and it was handed up, while the
grim fiend looked at the sinner, and pierced him through with his
black looks.

"Ah! but," said Mercy, "this man had no right to sign the deed;
a man must not sign away another's property. This man was
bought and paid for, long beforehand; he is not his own; the
covenant with death is disannuled, and the league with hell is
rent in pieces. Go your way Satan,"

"Nay," said he, howling again, "I have something else to say-
that man was always my friend, he always listened to my
insinuations; he scoffed at the gospel, he scorned the majesty of
heaven; is he to be pardoned, while I repair to my hellish den,
forever to bear the penalty of guilt?"

Said Mercy, "Avaunt, you fiend; these things he did in the days
of his unregeneracy and they are blotted out. Go to your hell;
take this for another lash upon yourself - the sinner shall be
pardoned, but you - never, treacherous fiend!"

And then Mercy, smilingly turning to the sinner, said, "Sinner,
the trumpet must be blown for the last time!" Again it was
blown, and no one answered. Then stood the sinner up, and
Mercy said, "Sinner ask yourself the question - ask of heaven,
of earth, of hell - whether any can condemn you?"

And the sinner stood up, and with a bold loud voice said,
"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?"

And he looked into hell, and Satan lay there, biting his iron
chains; and he looked on earth, and earth was silent; and in the
majesty of faith the sinner did even climb to heaven itself, and he
said, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?

"God?"
And the answer came, "No; he justifies."

"Christ?"
Sweetly it was whispered, "No; he died."

Then turning round, the sinner joyfully exclaimed, "Who shall
separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord." And the once condemned sinner came back to Mercy;
prostrate at her feet he lay, and vowed henceforth to be hers for
ever, if she would keep him to the end, and make him what she
would desire him to be.

Then no longer did the trumpet ring, but
angels rejoiced, and heaven was glad, for the sinner was saved.

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Whom God Uses



God is not looking for brilliant men; is not depending upon eloquent men, is not shut up to the use of talented men in sending His Gospel out in the world.

God is looking for the broken men who have judged themselves in the light of the Cross of Christ.

When He wants anything done, He takes up men who have come to the end of themselves, whose confidence is not in themselves, but in God.


By H. A. Ironside

Sunday, March 04, 2007

THE HOLINESS OF GOD

You only are holy." Rev. 15:4

What a sublime perfection is this! It would seem to form the loftiest theme for the adorations of saints and angels. They cease not day nor night to cry, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!" It evokes from the Church on earth her loudest strains- "Let them praise His great and terrible name, for it is Holy!"Holy, Holy, Holy Three!One Jehovah evermore!Father! Son! and Spirit! we,Dust and ashes, would adore Lightly by the world esteemed, From that world by You redeemed, Sing we here with glad accord. Holy! Holy! Holy Lord!"Reader, seek, in some feeble measure, to apprehend the nature of God's unswerving hatred at sin! It is the deep, deliberate, innate opposition of His nature to moral evil, which requires Him to hate it, and visit it with impartial punishment. It is not so much a matter of will as of necessity.

But what pleasure can there be in meditating on so awful a theme? The contemplation of a God "of purer eyes than to behold iniquity"- in whose sight "the heavens are not clean!" Jesus! Your glorious atonement is the mirror in which we can gaze unappalled on this august attribute. Your cross is, to the wide universe, a perpetual monument and memorial of the Holiness of God. It proclaims, as nothing else could, "You love righteousness and hate wickedness!"

Through that cross the Holiest of all Beings becomes the most gracious of all. "Now, we can love Him," says a saint who has entered on his rest, "not only although He is holy, but because He is holy."Gaze, and gaze again on that monumental column, until it teaches the lesson, how vain elsewhere to look for pardon; how delusive that dream; on which multitudes peril their eternal safety, that God will be at last too merciful to punish! Surely, if any less awful vindication could have sufficed- or had it been compatible with the rectitude of the Divine nature, and the requirements of the Divine law, to dispense pardon in any other way, Gethsemane and Calvary, with all their awful exponents of agony, would have been spared.

The Almighty victim would not have voluntarily submitted to a life of ignominy and a death of woe, if, by any simpler method, He could have "cleared the guilty." But this was impossible. If He was to "save others," Himself he could not save! Believer, seek that some faint and feeble emanations from this Divine attribute of Holiness may be yours. Let "Holiness to the Lord" be the superscription on your heart and life. Abounding grace can give no sanction or encouragement to abound in sin. 'His mercy,' says Reynolds, 'is a holy mercy which knows how to pardon sin, not to protect it; it is a sanctuary for the penitent, not for the presumptuous.'Or, are you tempted to murmur under the dealings of your God? What are the sorest of your trials in comparison with what they might have been, had this Holy God left you to know, in all the sternness of its meaning, how "Glorious He is in Holiness?" Rather marvel, considering your sins, that your trial has been so small- your cross so light.

Blessed Jesus! into this sanctuary of "holy mercy" which you have opened for me, I will flee. I can now "give thanks at the remembrance of God's holiness." Deriving, even from this august attribute, one of the 'songs in the night'– "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8

http://www.gracegems.org/books3/jm06.htm