So the question of the day is: can a person write a blog dedicated to the truths and implications of the gospel and somehow forget to write a post about Easter? Yup...pretty much. With that said, I apologize for not doing something to honor the resurrection of Jesus Christ. With that said, who cares when the calender tells me to think about Christ's resurrection; I'm going to do it today!
Imagine someone ran up to you and said, "They just found Jesus' bones! The disciples moved His body and pretended He had risen from the dead. Your 'Lord' is nothing but a dead lie!" That's the kind of news that tends to put a damper on any day. No amount of pizza would fix that, and that's strong language coming from me. Why? Because our whole faith is wrapped up in the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, He was perfect enough to atone for all of our sins, and He was powerful enough to over come death. If He stayed dead, none of the above would be true. Paul said it pretty well in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19.
17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
At the end of the day, if Christ was never raised from the dead, we are in for a world o' hurt. Paul gets us with a back-to-back-to-back triple whammy right here. First off, if Christ isn't raised from the dead, He wasn't powerful enough to overcome the penalty for your sins and all those thoughts, words, and actions that you thought you would never have to answer for again are all outstanding! You're still guilty! He follows that up with the nice sunny statement that everyone who died believing in Christ are suffering eternal punishment in Hell because they trusted in an insufficient sacrifice for their sin. To top it off, not only can we not have eternal joy like we thought, but we can't even enjoy life now because we constantly have eternal judgement hanging over our heads. I mean, how exactly would you end that memo? "Enjoy your week" sounds a little lame at the tail end of that bombshell.
If you think the above paragraph a little on the ridiculous and "waste of time" side, I want you to take a moment and think about what exactly was going on here. Take a moment, and read a couple passages for me. For starters, take a look at Matthew 20:18-19, Mark 9:31, John 2:20, and John 10:17-18. Common denominator here? All of them are prophecies by Jesus Himself regarding His resurrection from the dead. If Jesus never rose from the dead, He is a liar, a false prophet, and guilty of leading millions astray. That doesn't sound like a person perfect enough for God to lay on Him the sins of us all. If Jesus is not raised, our sins are still outstanding. Not only that, but Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. If Christ remained dead, He would not have overcome the full penalty of our sin. Basically, if Christ is not raised from the dead, our sins our still outstanding and there will be no hope for us before the Judgement Seat.
Lest I be labeled as a downer, I want to show you what Paul says right after 1 Corinthians 15:17-19. Verse 20a reads,
20 BUT NOW IS CHRIST RISEN FROM THE DEAD!!!
Sorry, I just thought that needed some bigger font, capital letters, and exclamation points. I mean, talk about a shift. Christ is risen from the dead. He stormed the gates of Hell and stayed just long enough to trash the place. They carried Him in the tomb, but He came out of there with enough style to knock out elite Roman guards. Your sins are payed for, those who have died in Christ are covered under the blood, and we can have hope for what happens after death. Notice the verb tense in that verse...now is. Right this second, we have an untiring, unceasing, very much alive advocate constantly defending us against every accusation Satan brings against us. And who says we should only celebrate that once a year...
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Eyes and Lives On The Savior
Well this is it. For three or four
posts now, we have been looking at some of the latter verses in Jude.
Like I said in the first post, Jude is one of those books you can
blink and miss, but contains a truckload of truth. Here we come to
verses 24-25, which read,
24 Now unto him that
is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.
25 To the only wise
God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now
and forever. Amen.
So here we go. Jude bookends this
entire passage, not by sharing five ways to hook your listeners, but
by focusing on the believer’s spiritual health. In looking at verse
20-21, we talked about “keeping ourselves in the love of God.”
And here we see that the author highlights the foundational element
of holiness in a believer’s life. This is a critical point.
Evangelism isn’t primarily about the pitch or eloquent public
speaking. Successful witnessing is carried out by the believer who is
abiding in Christ and living a life committed to holiness. Only such
a life will bring God’s blessing on our efforts.
Notice the wording of the verse.
It is not “work harder to keep from falling, and present yourself
faultless.” Jude offers praise to the One who keeps us from falling
and is able to present us to Himself as faultless. This is obviously
none other than Jesus Christ. By His death, He presents us faultless
and cleansed of our sin. We are no longer under condemnation, and we
are “spotless to stand before the throne.”
Jesus Christ not only cleanses us
forensically, but He is also the power by which we can lead lives
pleasing to Him on Earth. In my opinion, this is one of the trickiest
applications in the Bible. If you try to lead a holy life in your own
strength, you will fall flat on your face. Guaranteed. However, you
don’t see “Let go and let God” anywhere in the Bible either.
The biblical doctrine of abiding in Christ involves fervent prayer
for Christ to strengthen us in temptation, solid study in the Word of
God, and a daily, conscious decision to live as He desires.
I don’t pretend to have all the
answers to this in-depth application of an even more in-depth
doctrine, but I do know this: we will only be successful in our
evangelism when our eyes and lives are focused on Him who is able to
keep us in the righteousness He gave us.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Tripping Gets You Farther Than Sitting
I just thought I would briefly share a quote with you that I found this morning by Charles Spurgeon (my personal favorite preacher).
“Let eloquence be flung to the dogs rather than souls be lost. What we want is to win souls. They are not won by flowery speeches.”
First Corinthians 2:1-5 says,
1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
From experience, I can safely say that when we as Christians get motivated or inspired to witness, the automatic thought is "Hey, I oughta learn how to witness better." What Paul is saying and Spurgeon is seconding is that we don't need more knowledge or training courses; we need action. The model we see in the book of Acts is that evangelism was a natural outflow of what God was doing in the believers' lives. So, if you are one of the people like me and you want to memorize all of the "right answers" to those difficult questions that unbelievers ask before you witness, this is for you. God has already given you everything necessary to effectively witness: power, knowledge, and support straight from the throne room of the Almighty. God's truth doesn't need eloquent and polished speech to enhance it. Do we need to be constantly in the Word as our source of truth? Yes. Do we need to be prayed up? Absolutely. Should we have an idea of what we are going to say? Probably wise. That said, we (I say "we" because this is something I struggle with) will never be effective evangelists if we are constantly in preparation and never in practice. There needs to be a balance. I hate to say this, but no matter how many books you read and how many times you rehearse your delivery in front of the mirror, you won't get it right every time. Nevertheless, we serve a God who is capable of using us despite our shortcomings. The application is simple and direct: get out and do it.
“Let eloquence be flung to the dogs rather than souls be lost. What we want is to win souls. They are not won by flowery speeches.”
First Corinthians 2:1-5 says,
1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
From experience, I can safely say that when we as Christians get motivated or inspired to witness, the automatic thought is "Hey, I oughta learn how to witness better." What Paul is saying and Spurgeon is seconding is that we don't need more knowledge or training courses; we need action. The model we see in the book of Acts is that evangelism was a natural outflow of what God was doing in the believers' lives. So, if you are one of the people like me and you want to memorize all of the "right answers" to those difficult questions that unbelievers ask before you witness, this is for you. God has already given you everything necessary to effectively witness: power, knowledge, and support straight from the throne room of the Almighty. God's truth doesn't need eloquent and polished speech to enhance it. Do we need to be constantly in the Word as our source of truth? Yes. Do we need to be prayed up? Absolutely. Should we have an idea of what we are going to say? Probably wise. That said, we (I say "we" because this is something I struggle with) will never be effective evangelists if we are constantly in preparation and never in practice. There needs to be a balance. I hate to say this, but no matter how many books you read and how many times you rehearse your delivery in front of the mirror, you won't get it right every time. Nevertheless, we serve a God who is capable of using us despite our shortcomings. The application is simple and direct: get out and do it.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Elevators and Evangelists
Today, we'll be moving ahead in our study of Jude 20-25. This'll be a little shorter than some of the other posts in this particular study, but hey, I hear short is the new long.
Jude 23 says,
23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire...
Suppose you're walking in the middle of New York City and you happen to see a construction team working on a new skyscraper. You and a hundred of your closest friends stop to watch. The main frame of the building is up, and the workers are putting the touches on the elevator shaft. They start to test the lift and send the elevator from the top floor to the bottom floor. As the elevator is sliding down toward the bottom, you look down and see two little children playing right where the elevator will land. What will you do? Chances are good that you are going to push your way through the crowd and sprint for the children. The only thing on your mind when you see those two children is to pull them out of there.
Same idea.
We've spent some time looking at the passages about Hell and God's wrath, so I won't rehash all that here. Let me just say this and leave it there. There are a lot of people that we come in contact with on a daily basis that are playing right under the elevator, so to speak. When we see lost men, women, and children playing around and living each day in danger of God's judgment, we should experience some of the same type of fear as described above. Jude uses a similar analogy of pulling someone away from a fire.
So all of that said, my challenge to you today is to pray that God will allow you to see people as souls in danger of destruction. I guarantee that's all the motivation you'll need.
Not only does this passage describe one of the things we should feel about the lost, but it tells us that people can be pulled out of the fire. There is hope, and we have to rest in that. So let this verse both challenge and encourage you.
Jude 23 says,
23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire...
Suppose you're walking in the middle of New York City and you happen to see a construction team working on a new skyscraper. You and a hundred of your closest friends stop to watch. The main frame of the building is up, and the workers are putting the touches on the elevator shaft. They start to test the lift and send the elevator from the top floor to the bottom floor. As the elevator is sliding down toward the bottom, you look down and see two little children playing right where the elevator will land. What will you do? Chances are good that you are going to push your way through the crowd and sprint for the children. The only thing on your mind when you see those two children is to pull them out of there.
Same idea.
We've spent some time looking at the passages about Hell and God's wrath, so I won't rehash all that here. Let me just say this and leave it there. There are a lot of people that we come in contact with on a daily basis that are playing right under the elevator, so to speak. When we see lost men, women, and children playing around and living each day in danger of God's judgment, we should experience some of the same type of fear as described above. Jude uses a similar analogy of pulling someone away from a fire.
So all of that said, my challenge to you today is to pray that God will allow you to see people as souls in danger of destruction. I guarantee that's all the motivation you'll need.
Not only does this passage describe one of the things we should feel about the lost, but it tells us that people can be pulled out of the fire. There is hope, and we have to rest in that. So let this verse both challenge and encourage you.
Friday, January 4, 2013
The Ram of God
I just want to take a brief respite from our study in Jude and share with you something I came across recently in my Bible study. If you have your Bible, turn to Genesis 22. This is a fairly familiar account in the Old Testament that is often used as a picture of Christ's sacrifice. Long story short, God comes to Abraham and tells him to go atop a mountain and sacrifice his only son Isaac. Abraham obeys and sets off the next morning for the mountain. Abraham and Isaac go on alone, they build the altar, and Isaac is laid upon it with the wood. Abraham readies his knife and prepares to sacrifice his only son, the son that God had so long promised him. Just before Abraham kills his son, a voice speaks out from heaven, staying his hand. Paraphrasing, God commends Abraham's faith, and that He had seen that Abraham was unwilling to hold anything back from Him.
Again, it is a fairly familiar story and has great implications as a picture of Christ; however, I think that this account can reveal more about the heart of God than we often see. Look at who commands Abraham to sacrifice his Son. It's God. No surprise there. The person of the Trinity that is also termed God that Father makes this command, but look at verses 11-13, when the voice calls out from Heaven. In verse 12, the voice says that Abraham had not witheld his son from "me," so we see that this is God speaking, but look at the proper noun in verse 11. It says that the angel of the LORD is speaking. A while back, I wrote a post entitled "The Way" looking at something in the Old Testament called a theophany. I would recommend your going back to that post to get a little more detail on this particular truth, but, simply put, the angel of the LORD is the preincarnate Christ. Do you see the symbolism. God the Father demands the sacrifice, and the Son saves the victim, and in verse 13, provides a substitutionary ram. Thousands of years later, God the Father still demands that His holiness and wrath be appeased, but in His love, God sends another Ram to be offered up in the stead of the transgressors, and once again, it is the Son who provides this substitute.
Again, it is a fairly familiar story and has great implications as a picture of Christ; however, I think that this account can reveal more about the heart of God than we often see. Look at who commands Abraham to sacrifice his Son. It's God. No surprise there. The person of the Trinity that is also termed God that Father makes this command, but look at verses 11-13, when the voice calls out from Heaven. In verse 12, the voice says that Abraham had not witheld his son from "me," so we see that this is God speaking, but look at the proper noun in verse 11. It says that the angel of the LORD is speaking. A while back, I wrote a post entitled "The Way" looking at something in the Old Testament called a theophany. I would recommend your going back to that post to get a little more detail on this particular truth, but, simply put, the angel of the LORD is the preincarnate Christ. Do you see the symbolism. God the Father demands the sacrifice, and the Son saves the victim, and in verse 13, provides a substitutionary ram. Thousands of years later, God the Father still demands that His holiness and wrath be appeased, but in His love, God sends another Ram to be offered up in the stead of the transgressors, and once again, it is the Son who provides this substitute.
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